Blind Faith
by Poisoned Scarlet
Summary: AU. In which Maka loses her vision after a brutal car accident and Soul Evans takes it upon himself to care for her.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater.

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

_She never foresaw it, never even thought it could happen to her. Who thinks these things could happen to them? So there was nothing anyone could have done to prepare her for something like this. _

_She went in blind and that was the irony of it all. _

_The punchline in the joke that was her life._

_It always started off from the same scene—fingers clutching starchy sheets, legs jerking because joints felt locked, hair tickling her lips, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. The bed groaned beneath her, a hard slab that felt like it was made of complete discomfort. When she opened her eyes, there was nothing. So she tried again and there was still nothing and the fingers that clutched scratchy sheets rose up to her face, her eyes—no, the __gauze__ that covered them, that wrapped around her head like a blindfold. And then there would come sound—very slowly, as if she were hearing them from underwater—and then the bubble would pop and their voice would come all at once and her head would hurt. _

_"Maka, you're awake! Thank god, the doctors said you would wake up yesterday and when you didn't…" Hands stroked her hair, pushing it away from her cheeks. Familiar hands, soft and well-taken care of. Liz Thompson, her co-worker. Her best friend. "But you're awake now, that's all that matters—Patty, Patty, she's awake! Go bring me some water! She's gotta' be thirsty…"_

_But she wasn't—that could wait. Everything could wait. She just wanted to know what happened; why she had a blindfold on and why her head hurt so badly. She would reach up to grab Liz but miss, grappling air instead, until the girl grabbed her hand and told her to relax because moving around so much wasn't good for her. But it was in this moment that she couldn't stop: she struggled, tried to sit up and rip the blindfold off her eyes because she could __feel__ the warm sun bathe her arms but she couldn't __see__ it. The thick dark that pressed behind her eyelids was too black to just have her eyes closed. Some light always shone, __always__, so why wasn't it like this now? Why was it so dark, so horribly black not even the darkest ink could compete?_

_"Maka, stop!" _

_That brief moment, her breath baited and her heart in her throat, she always waited for that moment. The hook._

_"You can't take that off—you can __never__ take it off!"_

_Dreadful anticipation, it pooled in her gut. _

_She wanted to throw up. _

_She always knew what happened next—felt it rise up from the pit of her core until it made her limbs tingly. Here it came, the line._

_"You can't see, Maka."_

_And sinker._

_"You're blind."_

_If she could, she would have laughed._

* * *

"HEY! WAKE UP!"

Maka startled awake, jerking upright in a panic. She felt the sheets get pulled off, heard the shuffle of shoes on her carpet, and then she heard his obnoxious laughter as she wrapped her arms around her trembling frame in a vain effort to warm herself up again.

"S-SOUL!" She screeched, shaking her head out because she knew her hair was a mess. He only snorted at her attempts. "What are you doing here - it's too early for you to be here!"

"What're you talking about?" He drawled and she heard him toss her sheets beside her. Maka scrambled for them, cocooning herself within them because it was _definitely_ too early for any sane human being to be up. She had always been an early riser but her alarm clock hadn't even gone off yet, of this she was sure. She had never slept through her alarm and was not about to start now. "It's the perfect time to wake up so get the hell up. Breakfast is ready!"

She could hear him rummaging around in her drawers, taking out her clothes for the day and tossing them at the end of her bed one by one. Drawers opened and closed and she heard him wander over to her closet to pull out a pair of her heels, too. He dumped those by the foot of her bed, arranged them with his foot so they were upright and ready for her to slip into.

"B-breakfast? But, Soul! What time is it? Am I late or - !"

"You're not _late_," he rolled his eyes. She knew he did; she could hear it in his words. "Don't worry about it. Just get up and come eat before it gets cold!" The door slammed closed and Maka grunted, shifting until she could place her hands on her bedside table. She touched for the wall and then managed to slip her slippers on her feet. She knew the way to the bathroom so she did not bump into anything but squeaked when her forehead hit the ajar bathroom door.

"You alright in there?" Soul's voice came from the kitchen, muffled.

"Y-yeah!" She shouted back, rubbing her forehead petulantly. She always did this, bump into the door like that. She was always bumping into doors, one would think she'd outstretch her hands to avoid that by now. "Just...couldn't see the door..." She mumbled softly to herself. She didn't bother turning on the light. She wouldn't be able to see it anyway. She went about her daily routine with little to no accident, coming back into her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her just as her alarm clock went off. It was six in the morning, that was when her alarm went off. Maka stifled a sigh, knowing Soul couldn't sleep again and had decided to come and ruin _her_ sleep so they could suffer together.

"You jerk!" Maka shouted as she changed into her clothes. "Just because _you_ couldn't sleep doesn't mean you can come and wake _me_ up! Just wait until I get out there!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. _Who_ cooks for you again?"

"Ugh," Maka huffed as she stuck her foot into her heel. "That cocky bastard..."

"Heard that," he shouted back, only too amused. "Hey, you want orange juice or milk?"

"Orange juice!"

Maka wiggled into her blazer and buttoned it up promptly. She touched her hair, still wet from her shower, and rigorously dried it off with her towel. She could hear Soul in the kitchen, hear the plates clatter and click as he set up the table. She grumpily wondered what had kept him up this time before she ran her comb through her hair. She hesitantly touched her hair, starting to part it down the middle, but stopped soon after because she knew it was futile for her to even try. Her boss liked things symmetrical and if she didn't do her hair right, something she was known for around the office, _well_...

A knock came from her door. "Maka, you decent?"

"Yes," she muttered and heard the door creak open. She knew he was behind her, could feel him, and then the comb was taken out of her hand and he grabbed her shoulder and led her to her vanity. She let herself, feeling her cheeks warm despite this being nothing new. No, it wasn't anything new. He had become so attuned to using a comb and doing her hair every morning, it was ridiculous. She let him pull her hair into pigtails, felt his hands fix them so they were perfectly symmetrical, and then she felt him reach down to grab her hand. The motion didn't startle her: she squeezed his hand and let him tug her closer to him.

"Done," he said, sounding satisfied with his handiwork. "You ready to eat?"

"Mhm!"

"Alright, cool, I'm starving. Let's go," he lead her out of the room into her kitchen. She felt for the chair but he swiftly pulled it out for her, nudged her towards it, pushed it in once she sat down, told her exactly where the gallon of orange juice and milk were, before he took a seat himself and she heard him dig into his breakfast. He was always here, doing this for her, cooking for her, taking care of all the household needs. Maka gripped her fork, looking in the general direction of her plate. She should have felt more troubled by it, her sudden inability to do anything, but there was a rotten part of her that couldn't bother to pretend she didn't like it.

But she couldn't even do _this_, she thought stubbornly, do her own hair or even sit in a _chair_ without assistance. What had she been reduced to, relying on not only someone to do it for her but a man? She should have been seething in her own uselessness but here she was, letting him lead her to everywhere like some helper dog. No, he was bigger than that; better than some mutt. He was more than that, much more. He kept her company because she couldn't do normal things like hang out with friends. Friends didn't want to deal with a blind friend; she'd get in the way, it's happened before. She couldn't do normal things like go to the movies or play basketball; talk about that funny billboard they saw awhile ago, those things people posted up on the internet.

No. She couldn't do that anymore. But _Soul_ always humored her, even if she bored him with her audio books and her hands-on puzzles and her girlish fantasies. So he was more than a friend, much more than that. She just couldn't find a name for it yet but she would soon.

"Hey, you okay? Your head hurt again?" He asked her when he noticed she had yet to take a bite. The fork that scratched against his dish stopped suddenly. "Maka...?"

"...I'm okay,"she cleared her throat. Her cheeks warmed. He was always making her fumble. "Just tired."

"Tch," he scoffed. "I'm not gonna' apologize."

Maka giggled. "I know. Jerk." She dug into her eggs, making sure not to drop any on her shirt. That had been the worst of this, staining her shirt like some little girl and having Soul lean over and wipe it off; telling her to be careful next time. That regression, that had been the worst of her lows. But she could think of others she had succumbed to. "Oh...what day is it?"

"Tuesday," he replied. "Why?"

One of these days she had to wake up earlier, at the time Soul woke her up today. Maka groaned at the thought, definitely not wanting to wake up any earlier than she already had to. And definitely _not_ anticipating doing things on her own, for the first time since she became blind. She contemplated telling Soul but couldn't bring herself to: she was already rotten, liking this sort of catering, there was no need to make it worse.

One day couldn't hurt, right? Even Soul deserved a break once in awhile, she reasoned.

So she took a breath and said, "No reason...it's just hard to keep track sometimes."

"Wouldn't be if you asked more often," he mumbled. He stopped making mistakes like _wouldn't be if you checked the calendar more often _a long time ago. He stopped making mistakes like that in general. He knew better. "You done?"

"Mhm."

His chair screeched back and he collected their plates, going over to the sink and running water over them. Maka wiped her mouth quietly, placing her napkin on the table. She stopped trying to throw it away a while ago, too; Soul always insisted he do it for her, something about her hurting herself if she tried to squeeze past him on her way to the trashcan. Maka stood up and went over to the living room, touching for her folder. She found it on the first seat, where Soul always left it for her, and she tucked that under her arm as he came into the living room.

"Ready?" He yawned out.

"_Now_ you're sleepy?"

"Man, it's so uncool," he grumbled as he opened the front door. He waited for her, grabbing her hand once she was outside. He locked the door, hand still in hers, as he spoke, "I can't sleep at night but I'm always sleepy in the morning. What kind of sick joke is this?"

Maka shrugged, his hand a reassuring weight. She swung it lightly between them. "Probably the same one that made me like this."

It became silent, very quiet. Oh, she crossed a line again. Ha, how easy it was to cross lines with him. He had no sense of humor, or maybe she just stepped over lines too much nowadays. Being blind would do that to you, considering you're constantly stumbling around for the light switch. Maka tilted her head up, her ears trained on his even breathing.

"Don't say uncool things like that," he sharply told her. His hand squeezed hers. "What happened to you isn't funny. It was an accident so don't joke around like that!" She heard him take a deep breath, let it go, flick her forehead in the way he always did before he continued, "C'mon," he tugged her hand, leading her down the hall. His voice softened. "Wanna' get some coffee? You still have an hour before you need to clock in."

"Okay! Can I have a doughnut, too?"

"Eh? You gonna' pay for it? If you do, you can!"

"What?! Why do I have to pay for it? You're the one who offered!"

"You just ate breakfast, you fatass!"

"Who are you calling a fatass? I _know_ you're going to buy one! You always do it! You can't drink coffee without sweets, you told me once!"

"I was kidding!" He snapped and scowled when she puffed her cheeks out, her faded green eyes looking up at him with that perpetual sadness they held. Unfocused but there. Sad but never quite sad; that was the contradiction that was her eyes. "Alright, fine! One doughnut but don't whine if you can't fit into your skirts anymore! I draw the line at shopping," he grunted and she smiled because they had gone shopping before, with him complaining the entire way, and if need be they'd go shopping again because she was sure he'd insist. He always insisted and maybe that was why she let him do the things he did.

"Okay!"

She would be lying if she said she didn't like this messed up thing they had.

* * *

**A/N:** I AM BACK FANDOM! I damned myself when I began to post things every month or so. Seriously, I never noticed until I got a review from an anon that said that they needed to read some new stuff from me because I hadn't posted in over a month. Holy crap, you guys are all gonna' be the death of me...

So here you go, have some blind!Maka and housewife!Soul to cure your SoMa munchies!

I'll try to update soon but no promises: college is on a different level than high school, even if I have more time than I did before. But it's usually just me studying for something or reading (a whole lot of) something or writing papers for something or preparing for a discussion for something. Augh. I just wanna' write my fics, is that so bad?

_Scarlett. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater.

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

Today was it: the first day she would do something on her own, without Soul.

She needed to get up an hour and a half earlier than normal in order to arrive to work for that conference Kidd reminded her about last night, considering she needed to set up and rehearse her part to ensure everything went smoothly. Despite her current disability, she was still an important asset to the group, and Kidd refused to give her leeway this time around. So that was why she was here all by herself at the break of dawn, trying to fix her hair as symmetrically as she could so she wouldn't be more of a burden than she already was.

It was difficult but she managed. Well, she hoped she _at least_ looked decent. She also had to take out her own clothes, something else that was new. Of course, Soul had stitched distinctive bumps on her shirts (after getting the hang of how to sew without skewering his fingers) so she knew which one was blue, white, green, a combination of colors, that sort of thing, so picking out a shirt was not much of an issue. She only wore skirts so he only had to arrange her work skirts in one drawer (at the top) while her casual skirts remained on the bottom drawer (all the way at the bottom). He also arranged her shoes from business in the first row, casual in the second, her boots last, in her closet. Her jackets were all on the left, her sweaters in the middle, her casual long sleeved shirts on the right. There were gaps between each one so she didn't confuse herself. After some debate, they had also rearranged her furniture so she didn't bump into it or trip over anything when she woke up at night to use the bathroom.

Soul helped her with nearly every aspect of her home life and Tsugumi helped her at work, doing the things she couldn't while she directed and instructed and kept everything running in smooth order. She was the brains, Tsugumi was the body, as Liz had laughingly put when she found out Kidd still wanted her to work despite her condition.

She was lucky that her workplace was nearby and that her boss was merciful enough to allow her to continue working, even if it was only part-time and even if she did not have as many responsibilities as before. She had a car but driving it was impossible with her condition. Soul always swung by an hour before she left (upon her insistence or else he'd arrive _on time _and she'd be late) and drove her to work and picked her up afterwards.

But today she would be doing everything _on her own_ and it _scared_ her, something else she wasn't accustomed to feeling.

It shouldn't be that way but it was.

Soul hadn't always been there, truth be told. In the beginning, when she was blessed with sight, most of their conversations were either arguments or bland small talk and they had never exchanged names. She remembered him because of his distinctive features: a mess of white hair with lazy burgundy eyes, and that lopsided grin that revealed sharp canines and never failed to infuriate her. He remembered her because she always whacked him on the head with her clipboard whenever he poked fun at her. He just had to look for the girl with the clipboard, or pigtails.

Her phone rang and Maka startled, following the sound of her ringtone. When she found her bag, she carefully dug through it and pulled out her cellphone. She hoped she pressed the right button as she rose it to her ear.

"Hello?"

"_Hi, Maka! It's me, Tsugumi! I'm already outside, are you ready to go?" _

"Good morning. I'll be right down, thanks for coming over to pick me up!" Maka smiled, using the wall to guide her to the front door. She cursed when she remembered her keys and she struggled to remember where she last left them, trying to imagine her home in her head like the doctor said. Using her imagination, her memory, was the only way for her to see now. But she quickly found there was no reason to because Soul took them last night. He left them in his pocket, probably on purpose so he could let himself in today and wake her up by slamming the door open at ungodly hours because of his damnable insomnia. Maka stifled a sigh. "Give me a few minutes, I have to find my keys!"

"_Oh, do you need help? I can go up if you want!" _

"No, it's fine! I know where they are. I'll be down soon," Maka assured and hung up. She sighed, tapping her foot impatiently, then made her way to the kitchen table. She felt for the notepad she kept there and searched around some more for the pen that was always nearby. She jotted down a message for Soul and contemplated leaving it on the table. But he'd probably overlook it so she once more made her way to her bedroom, bumping into the ajar door in her haste.

"Ouch!" She squealed and tensed. But no one answered her back. Ah, right, right. Soul wasn't here today. She felt her cheeks flare up; really, she had gotten too used to having him around. Maka dropped the note on top of her bed and walked back out carefully, heading out the front door and only locking the bottom knob since she had no key. She hoped Soul would arrive on time so she wouldn't be locked out for long...

Soul Evans found her at the supermarket once, in her sweats and a track jacket, her hair limp down her shoulders, leaning against the wall holding two grocery bags with her shoulders hunched. It was a few days after the accident. She supposed she looked like a wreck because he hadn't been as snide as usual and when he discovered the reason she had a thick gauze tapped over her eyes, he quieted altogether. Liz had accompanied her that time but she had forgotten something so she left her standing by the entrance. Maka had just wanted to go to the car – she wanted to go _home_, actually, Liz had _forced_ her out – but, the her from those months ago had bitterly thought, being _blind_ meant stepping into a whole new world.

She hadn't adjusted to being blind very well; not like how she was now, oh no. She holed herself up in her room because being outside was dangerous. And being home all the time no longer gave her the peace it once had. She had absolutely _nothing_ to do at home; nothing except her own thoughts, thoughts that always made her head hurt and her hearty heavy. She couldn't read anymore and audiobooks only gave her so much pleasure before they, too, lost their luster and she became even more sullen—alarmingly so. She didn't speak to Soul until about a week after her first encounter with him (if you could call it an encounter; she hardly heard him). It was after spending another long day cooped up inside her apartment to wrangle with her heavy depression that it happened.

She supposed she owed Liz more than she believed she did. After all, Liz met Soul through her that day at the supermarket and it was Liz who told him the 'new problem' Maka had aside from losing her vision. Liz had been the reason he stepped into her life the way he did. Maka doubted Liz would ever realize how indebted she was to her, really.

Maka had been in bed the day he came, staring at the black that was her new sight, not wanting to do anything more than lay there and sleep everything away_, _when a knock sounded. She ignored it the first few times but when she saw that the person wouldn't relent, she finally answered the door, more than surprised when Soul's drawling voice greeted her.

Then everything changed.

"Maka, here, let me help you!" Tsugumi fretted and Maka felt a hand take her elbow and guide her to her car. The air was cold, colder than she thought it would be. It stung her cheeks, her nose. She wondered if her every exhale was a blow of mist, a puffy cloud of white that signaled the coming of winter. She frowned slightly. If Soul had been there, he would have taken out a thicker jacket for her to wear. The one she chose out was too thin. "Watch your step!"

"Thanks but I can take it from here," Maka smiled and climbed into the passenger seat without any further assistance. The seats squeaked under her, a stiff leather that she always disliked. The seat belts felt course, rigid, and when it clicked into place, the strap pressed her into the cushions of the seat firmly. She could really do without being sucked into the seat. "Do you know the schedule?"

"Yep!" Tsugumi chirped, starting her car. "Kidd emailed it to me last night! I've got it right here! Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes."

"Okie dokie," Tsugumi happily hummed, digging through her things to find the email she printed out. When she found it, she cheerfully relayed the schedule, reading everything on the paper as Maka had instructed she do every time she read her a document. Although Maka hardly lifted a finger, she did have an important role within the office, and Tsugumi admired Maka for her determination to remain independent and strong despite her disability.

Of course, Maka would beg a differ. Soul had come over more frequently after that first day and gave her something to look forward to. But his mission wasn't _just_ to keep her company, it was to _care_ for her. He forced her outside even if he had to drag her, he made her food and cleaned up her house when it began to clutter and forced her to eat and take care of herself. He practically shoved _the will to live_ down her throat until she got a clue and started returning to her old habits. It took painstaking weeks of working on it but she had mustered up the courage to contact Kidd and they had arranged to have her return to work, at least part-time. Her father disapproved, telling her he had no problem paying for her expenses while she recovered, but she had _finally_ begun to feel restless. The days of doing nothing except waiting for Soul, letting him do _everything_ for her because she was useless, had finally begun to gnaw on her. She wanted to feel _useful_ again, a least a little bit, and although Soul disapproved, too, when he found out she wanted to work again, he promised to relent _only if_ he drove her to and from work and if the work started to take a toll on her, she'd stop going.

So far, so good.

"How is Soul, Maka?" Tsugumi asked as she drove.

"He's fine. His usual idiot self," Maka smiled.

"Good! Y'know, Liz and I were talking about him yesterday while you handled those interviews," Tsugumi began, happily as she always did. "Liz called him your housewife! Because he's always dotting on you, it's so cute!"

"Ho-housewife?" Maka sputtered, cheeks reddening. "He isn't! He doesn't help me _all_ the time – well, he does, but he doesn't have to! If only he'd let me handle it myself! But he always says that I might hurt myself or I'll break something, it's so annoying! I'm just blind, that doesn't mean I can't do _something!_ I can't do everything but there _are_ things I can do on my own! He just doesn't want to accept that!" Maka pouted and Tsugumi giggled.

"That's what we were saying! Liz told me that when she told Soul about, um, your depression," she hesitated there but Maka only nodded, "she didn't think he'd take it so seriously. I mean, she _did_ ask him if he could talk to you a little since you two were friends but she meant it as a pick-me-up, not like him taking care of you and stuff."

"It was weird to have him over so much in the beginning – we were always arguing and it usually left me feeling worse than before," Maka laughed lightly, remembering those days. "But he sounded like he really wanted to help me so I let him…and I guess I let him have too much freedom because now he does _everything _for me. I think he'd spoon-feed me if I let him," Maka muttered. But her smile softened at the thought. "It's sweet, he tries so hard to make things a little easier for me."

"It must be so hard, Maka," Tsugumi said sympathetically. "You were so independent! And then that car crash…"

Maka rose a hand to her head, rubbing her neck instead. "The doctors say it's not permanent, not from what the studies show. They said that it'll slowly come back, with time. One day I'll be able to see more than just shadows – it might even come back all at once!"

"Maybe," Tsugumi sighed. "Hopefully. You deserve to see, Maka, you've done so much! You deserve it!"

She hoped, too, that her sight would return as the doctors predicted it would. She had hit her head extremely hard in that car crash and, as a result, lost her vision. But the doctors assured that the damage was only temporary and, with time, it would return. Not the same, of course, she'd likely need glasses, but it would come back and she'd be able to see color and faces and the world around her that had been enshrouded in darkness for what felt like years when it was only months. Even now, her sight was not as bad as it had been in the beginning. In the beginning, it had been pitch black, now it had lightened; there was no color but very vague shadows of things she usually recognized. Sometimes, from the corner of her eye, she'd think she saw actual texture but it was always gone when she looked. But it was a good sign, she hoped, that she was regaining her sight.

"I'm sure your sight will come back, Maka!" Tsugumi optimistically beamed.

Maka smiled a little.

And the rest of the day was spent as it usually was.

The conference flew by without a hitch and Tsugumi kept her sufficiently distracted throughout the day. It was about two hours before she needed to go home that another one of her infamous headaches struck and her mood plummeted but Tsugumi didn't let it bring her down. Although her constant chatter made her head pound, she was relieved for it. It was better than absolute silence. Anything was better than that haunting silence from those months of isolation, those days spent hearing the tick of time passing one second at a time and being unable to do anything about it.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you upstairs?" Tsugumi asked worriedly when she arrived at Maka's apartment that evening.

"Don't worry, I know my way from here!"

"Okay…if you're sure—oh, Soul's here!"

"He is?" Maka asked, perking up. "How do you know?"

"I see his motorcycle! It's orange, right?"

"An orange Harley?" Maka offered.

"Yep!"

"That's his. He must be inside then…." Maka rubbed her temple and waved at her partner, bidding her goodbye until tomorrow. Maka was careful as she went to her apartment: she could see the vague outline of the staircase, sometimes the steps if she squinted a lot, but the harder she tried to see, the more painful her headache became and the less she saw.

"Soul?" Maka called when she entered. Idiot left the door open again, she'd yell at him for that later. She barely had it in her to lock it behind her herself. "I'm home..."

"In the kitchen!" he shouted and she caught the sounds of meat frying on the pan. The smell, usually well-received by her, only made her want to groan. Maka plopped down on the couch, falling over on her side. Maka shifted on her back and pressed her fingers over her eyes, letting her thumbs massage her temples.

"Hey, what's this about needing to get up earlier? You could've called me, I was actually awake at that time!" Soul shouted, bristling. Maka grunted only back. "Maka?"

"What?"

"You alright?"

"…Do we have any Advil?"

"Your head hurt again?"

"Yes..."

The sizzle of the meat lessened and soon after she heard his footsteps pad into the bathroom. Maka waited patiently, hoping to soothe her pain by giving her temples a gentle massage with her fingers, but she felt little difference. "Here," she felt his hand nudge hers and she took it, letting him pull her up effortlessly. She rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed her hands over her face with a tiny yawn.

"Here," Soul softly said, handing her a glass of water and the pills. She took a few moments to let the pain settle before she took the pills and handed the empty glass back to him. Then she slumped back on the couch with a sigh. She covered her eyes again, rubbing them out gently because it helped soothe the ache. Soul watched her for a second, then said,"It's been getting worse, huh?"

"I've been straining my vision," Maka told him, surprising him. "I'm starting to see more than shadows now, they're actual outlines of things. But then it hurts...I think I try too hard."

"Sounds promising," Soul smirked a little and she smiled when his hand came to rest on her cheek. His fingers rubbed her temple while both of hers continued to softly rub her eyes out. After a second of this, feeling him sit so close to her, close enough that she felt warm already, she asked:

"What are you cooking?"

"Steak."

"_Just_ steak?" She teased and Soul snorted.

"_And_ rice and vegetables, don't worry, jeez. That only happened once!"

Maka laughed, laughing harder when he asked what was so funny. "You know what Tsugumi told me this morning? She said Liz calls you my housewife," Maka teasingly said and, for a second, it was absolutely silent save for her giggles, before he furiously shouted that was _not cool at all_.

"Oh, what's so wrong with that?" Maka giggled while he glared at the floor, mortified. "I don't see anything wrong with it!"

"Maka, that's _not_ cool!" Soul bemoaned. "I am _not _a housewife, goddammit!"

"Hmm," Maka muffled her laughter in her hand when he snarled at her. "I think it's cute!"

"I think it's _stupid _and the next time I talk to her, I'll tell her that!"

"Don't! It's not stupid, it's cute!" Maka insisted. She reached forward and her fingers grazed his chin. He didn't move back, he stopped flinching away from her touch a long time ago, and she let her fingers follow the line of his jaw until she reached his neck. She couldn't see, not yet, maybe not for a long time, but she could imagine and so she let her fingers map the skin of his face curiously. She tugged him forward and he grunted back so she tugged harder until he complied. "You _are_ kind of like a mom!" She beamed and he was suddenly glad she was blind: she couldn't see his stricken face at the comparison.

"Maka, this is seriously _not cool,_" he sulked.

"But you take care of me!" Maka hugged him. Soul stayed still, listening to her. "I've never had anyone care for me like this. Papa was always out and my mama was always busy with her online business. It was weird when you first started to care for me, I've never had anyone like that, you've helped me out so much!" Maka gratefully said, tightening her arms around his neck. She felt his arms wrap around her, too. "I think…if you hadn't come over that day…. right now I'd still be in that rut I dug myself in when I lost my vision," she dropped her voice, reluctant to remember those dark days. "I have so much to thank you for."

"It's fine," Soul sighed, leaning his chin on the side of her head. "You don't have to do anything," he assured, knowing she was thinking about making it up to him somehow. "If I get in a motorcycle accident and break a leg, you can help me out then, too," he joked but she made a weak noise in the back of her throat and tightened her arms around his neck.

"Don't joke around like that…"

He chuckled and tugged her hair loose from its restraints. She would purr if she could when he ran his fingers through it; untangling it, combing through it until it fell straight down her back. She felt a pleasant haze start to weaken her body until she was slumped against him, dozing quietly while his hand marveled her hair. When he heard her breaths even out, he gently moved away and laid her on the couch. He took off her heels and he grabbed a cushion from the armchair, putting it under her head so she had something to rest on. He returned to the kitchen, deciding he'd eat his share and save Maka's on a plate for later.

His reasons for helping her didn't have ulterior motives like Liz first thought when she heard of his frequent visits: he just honestly couldn't stand to see someone as fierce as Maka Albarn become reduced to an empty shell. He'd always liked her, even though she hit him with that clipboard and always called him a moron. Their arguments were something he looked forward to. She made things a lot more interesting, how she felt the need to prove him wrong at every turn; how she made this noise of frustration, a mix between a growl and a moan, when he made things difficult. She had spunk, she had a _spark_ _in her eyes_ that he admired; a type of fiery determination and strength that he lacked. So when she told him she lost her sight, he'd been disturbed by the absolute lack of anything in her eyes, her _face_. There was a defeated slump to her shoulders, a sadness to her words and smile, and her _eyes_ – her beautiful eyes, they were covered up by those bandages, covered up from the world. She wasn't that fierce woman he remembered. She had become a stranger overnight.

When Liz told him about Maka's steadily worsening depression, he decided it couldn't hurt to try. He dropped by and, after a few days of struggling to get her to do anything more than shrug and sulk, things began to look up – even a little bit. There were small changes until, finally, she giggled at something he said and that tiny lift of her lips made her look so beautiful. That was all it took: a tiny laugh, a tiny smile, and suddenly all those days spent trying to get her to engage were worth it. He supposed that was when he started to extend his help as more than just friendly companionship, too…he really couldn't explain that, he didn't quite know himself.

He had hoped no one would ask.

No one did but that didn't mean they didn't _notice._

"Hey," Soul answered his phone through a mouthful of rice. "What's up, Liz? Hm? I don't think that's a good idea. Maka's head has been hurting a lot recently, she says it's because she's been straining her vision. I think it's coming back," Soul grinned when Liz gasped in delight. "Yeah, soon she'll be able to see again! She won't need Tsugumi on her ass about everything at work anymore – you bitch, call me that again and I'll chop off an inch of your hair the next time I see you!" Soul bristled. Liz only laughed mockingly and dared him to. "It's a stupid name! Grow up already!"

"_Come on, admit it, you're like her wife! You're always chasing after her, making sure she doesn't get hurt, dotting on her, what else can you be? Oh, oh my god, you can be a __mom__—!"_

"Say it and you can kiss your precious hair goodbye!" Soul sneered.

"_Ohhh! __Aw, Soul wants to be Maka's wifey! That's cute! I better tell Maka to go buy a wedding ring and propose to you to make it official!"_

"Piss off," Soul flatly said. "Is that all you called for?"

"_Patty just wants to see Maka again. We might drop by later today if we can."_

"Alright, cool, later."

"_Bye, housewife!"_

"You—!" Soul glared at his phone when she hung up on him. He tossed his phone on the table noisily and brooded as he finished his meal. His eyes strayed to the couch, where he knew Maka was peacefully dozing, and his scorn dwindled to resignation. _Housewife_, what an uncool name for someone as cool as him. He might dot on her but it was more for precautions sake! If she fell or something happened, she might never get her vision back! Her head was _kind of a big deal;_ more than ever before. That was why she always gave him mini-anxiety attacks when she bumped into doors like a klutz. He was only ensuring her safety but he _guessed _doing all the chores and stuff wasn't _totally_ necessary…especially since his own apartment was pretty much a mess since he spent more time with Maka.

What the hell was he doing? _Idiot_, he chided himself, he knew _exactly_ what he was doing! That was probably the worst part, liking this sort of messed up relationship between them. Because it made him feel better about himself, maybe? No, not something that shallow. It covered up something that had been left raw a long time ago. That sounded better, he decided, by fixing her he fixed himself.

Sort of.

Soul sighed, putting a halt to his jumbled thoughts, and stood up to dump his plate in the sink. Afterwards, he wandered back to the living room, and fell back on the armchair to watch some TV. He cringed when it was on loud and muted it immediately, darting his eyes to Maka. But she barely roused so he lowered the volume while she slept on.

_Tch. Housewife_, Soul scowled. He looked at his bare ring finger for a second and scowled deeper, ignoring his hot cheeks.

What an uncool name for someone as cool as him.

* * *

**A/N: **Please excuse all the grammar errors, I barely had time to go through this more than two times. I'll take another thousand glances at it when I don't feel like drooling on my keyboard. I'm tired. Everything looks like an error now. Ugh. Late-night classes...never again lol

Also updating now because for the next two weeks I will be swamped with homework but hopefully I'll be able to update again sometime in-between. Let's cross our fingers and hope I can!

_Scarlett._


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Soul Eater.

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

"_Hmmm_," Maka yawned out, stretching out her stiff body. Her eyes felt dry but the pain in her head was an ignorable ache now. Maka sat up and yawned again, burying her nose in the couch's plush cushions with a happy hum. She felt like she could go run some laps! Naps were definitely her best friend, she thought contently.

"Mornin'!" Soul teased and Maka opened her eyes.

"What time is it?"

"Eight. You slept a good two hours. Your head any better?"

"A lot!" She chirped.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah!" She stifled another yawn as Soul lazily stood up, taking her hand as he always did. He led her to the kitchen as she tried to managed to flatten her sleep mussed hair. As per habit now, she only held out her hand and he handed her a fork and lazily kicked her chair out for her. She sat down, scooting it in, and he microwaved her food for a few minutes before laying the plate before her, taking out a can of soda from the refrigerator, popping it open and handing it to her, too. He leaned against the back of her chair idly as she ate, ruffling her hair when he got bored.

"Ngh! Soul! I'm eating!"

"You have bed hair," he smirked and ruffled it even more.

"I'm going to hurt you, Soul, I'm actually eating today!" Maka growled warningly and Soul snorted, making his way back to the living room. "Did anything happen while I was asleep?"

"Nope," Soul answered then paused. "Liz called. She asked if we wanted to go out to eat with her but since you weren't feeling well, I told her no. She and Patty might drop by later, though."

"Okay," Maka smiled. "How much later?"

"Not too late," Soul glanced at the clock. "It's gonna' be eight thirty, they should be here soon."

"You don't know Liz," Maka chuckled. "Liz and Patty think ten is still early!"

"What?" Soul complained. "I ain't staying here until ten, I have work tomorrow!"

"I _know!_" Maka pouted, stuffing a forkful of rice in her mouth. "I do, too!"

"For like half the day!"

"It's still work!"

"You don't _do_ anything!"

"Yes, I do!"

"No, you don't, you have it easy compared to me!"

"Oh, because editing songs is _so_ much easier than organizing and coordinating events!" Maka jeered and Soul scoffed, changing the channel.

"_Yeah."_

Maka rolled her eyes and continued eating, not bothering to argue with him about this. It would get them nowhere: she would know, she'd tried. She had only just made her way to the sink to dump her plate in it when someone knocked on the door. Soul answered and Maka scrubbed her plate clean, smiling when she heard Liz and Patty's cheerful voices come from the living room. They had actually come early today.

"Makaaaa! Where are you? I have a present for youuuu!" Patty crooned, holding out a bag and shaking it as if that would make her come out from wherever she was. Maka finished washing her dishes and carefully placed them in the dish rack, hoping she didn't break anything when the cup crashed against a plate noisily.

"Maka?" Soul peeked into the kitchen, scowling when he found her touching for a rag. "I told you I'd wash the dishes!"

"I can do this by myself!" Maka muttered and sighed when she heard him snort, taking her right hand as he always did and leading her back into the living room. _Housewife! _Ha_, _ he fit the description perfectly. Either housewife or butler, Maka giggled to herself. She liked housewife better.

"Makaaaaa!" Patty sang and gave the girl a tight hug she returned.

"I heard that you're getting your sight back, is that true?" Liz asked earnestly as she hugged her as well, smiling down at the girl when she nodded cheerfully.

"I can see shadows now!"

"What about right now?" Liz asked, eagerly. She held out three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding?"

"Liz," Soul rolled his eyes. "I doubt she can—!"

"Tw...three?" Maka guessed, squinting her eyes. Liz squealed in excitement. Soul blinked, rather surprised she'd guessed right. But soon the surprise melted into content, seeing Maka laughingly hug Liz and Patty as both girls shouted for a celebration.

"Here! I wanted to show you _this!_" Patty let the bag drop as she pulled out an ultra short miniskirt. Soul felt his jaw slack at the contour garment that he was _certain _would only reach just below the curve of her ass. Maka reached for it and held it in her hand, stretching it out curiously.

"Is this a shirt?" Maka asked curiously. Soul snickered.

"Nope! It's a_ skirt!_" Liz laughed when Maka gasped, commenting on how short it was. "Oh, come on, you've worn shorter skirts than this!"

"She _has?"_ Soul gaped.

"Wouldn't _you_ want to see," Liz taunted.

Soul glared in reply, cheeks tinting red at the thought.

"I don't think I can wear this, guys," Maka spoke up, worriedly. "I haven't worn skirts like this since I was sixteen!"

"You're twenty three, Maka, not forty!" Liz rolled her eyes. "I was thinking, you know for that party thing we have at work? You should totally wear this and like wow all the guys at work with it. I mean, they already know that you rock the skirts better than any girl in that building, but this'll make you legendary!"

"_Legendary!_" Patty stressed.

"Pfft, legendary?" Soul cracked up. "Legendary for _what?_ Wearing the shortest skirt in existence?"

"_No," _Liz glared at Soul as he guffawed. "Legendary for being the sexiest girl in the entire office! Who knows, maybe she can find herself _another _housewife who'll actually _put out!"_ She grinned smugly when he stopped laughing and tossed her dirtiest look he could muster.

"Put out?" Maka folded the skirt in half, looking in the direction she assumed Liz to be. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I just meant buy you things," Liz waved off.

"Soul buys me things," Maka defended but Liz merely gave him the same grinning look that had him bristling.

"Well, these things are _better_ than anything he's bought you, Maka! Trust me!" Liz patted her head gently when she frowned and pondered it. "Anyway! Party is this Saturday! So you should wear this with that cute blouse you have! The one with the sequins on the hem? And the blazer! The black one!"

"The one I bought at the mall?"

"Yeah, that one!"

"Okay, I guess," Maka nodded and, given her condition, didn't see the scowl that marred Soul's face at the thought. "Oh, Soul, do you have anything to do that day?"

"No."

"I was wondering if you could come with me," she innocently asked and Liz smirked.

"_Yeah_, Soul, why _don't_ you come? Meet our co-workers and all, socialize a bit!" Liz asked him again. He eyed her skeptically, not liking the edge her grin had taken. "It'll be _fun!_"

"Parties aren't my thing," he blandly said, adding when he caught Maka's crestfallen look, "But I _guess_ I can go this one time. I'm cool with it."

She beamed in reply and hugged the skirt to her chest while Liz smirked, her plan coming to a successful close, and Patty wondered aloud what Kidd would do if she decided to wear a polka-dotted dress with an odd amount of polka-dots.

* * *

"Are you _sure_ it's this one?" Maka asked, suspiciously. She stretched the skirt in her hand experimentally. It felt _different_ – she was sure it was longer than the one Liz had given her. The material felt the same, however: spandex, silky under her fingertips. Maka was sure it would be comfortable once she slipped it on and hopefully she still had the body for it...well, she _felt_ thin enough. Maka quickly expelled the thought from her mind; the less she thought about her body issue problems, the better.

"For the last time, _yes_," Soul said with exasperation, and tossed the skirt Liz had _really_ given her in the lower drawers of her wardrobe. All the way to the back, where she couldn't find it even if she tried. "Put it on. Your shirts on the edge of the bed. Don't trip," he idly reminded as he walked out of the bedroom, leaving Maka to her own devices.

She was glad that he didn't insist on helping her change. He'd only asked her once if she needed help changing and when she'd smacked him and promptly said _no, _he never brought it up again. He only helped her pick out her clothes sometimes, usually describing them (terribly) and letting her decide what she wanted because, according to him, it was uncool enough that he was helping her pick out her clothes. He could say whatever he wanted to retain his masculinity but he _still _helped her, even argued when she didn't let him. Maka changed into the clothes laid out for her and walked to her vanity, feeling for her brush. She ran it through her hair, deciding she'd let it down today, and then felt for her small bottle of lip gloss. That was about all she could put on without risking looking like a clown. She had trouble applying make up when she could _see, _now blind she could only imagine.

She stood up, slipped into black open-toe pumps, and wished she could see herself in the mirror. She tugged on the skirt, noting that it did reach lower than she expected, but it only made her feel more comfortable about herself. She would always be so self-conscious about what she wore when she was younger, when she had more freedom to wear what she wanted. Perhaps some good _did_ come from not being able to see; not being able to criticize herself for minute flaws she found on her person. With one last tug on her shirt, Maka walked out of her bedroom, using the wall to guide her to the living room where she knew Soul was waiting for her.

When he saw her he was _very_ glad he handed her a different skirt. It was bad enough they were both contour skirts, sticking to her body in a way that made it hard for his eyes to look away long enough to answer her timid _do I look okay? _At least this one was longer down her creamy thighs. Unlike the other one, which was way short; practically indecent. He doubted Maka would even _wear_ it herself if she really knew how short it really was; she was just conservative that way, he's known her long enough to know she didn't feel comfortable in those types of things. And those Thompson sisters were trying to set her up for _something_ and it certainly wasn't a modeling contract although Maka could probably get one if she tried...

"Yeah, you look fine," he briskly said, took her hand, and led her out of the apartment. He paused, digging in his pockets, then looked at her. This was one of those times when she looked back, almost as if she could see, but one look into her unfocused eyes said otherwise. "You got the keys?"

"No, I thought _you_ had them!"

"Crap," Soul sighed and dragged himself back into the apartment to find them. He found them on the dining table, where he left tossed them, and when he came back out, locking the door behind him, he was annoyed to find some punks from down the hall eying Maka. He came up behind her, took hold of her hand, and made sure to keep her on his other side when they walked past the teenage punks who didn't know the first thing in subtlety. Maka didn't notice. Not that she would, technically, but sometimes she surprised him.

"So, where's this party at? Liz didn't give me directions, just some creepy-sounding place," Soul said once they were both inside her car, his hand resting on the wheel. Maka fumbled with the seat belt, turning to tug it a little because it had jammed. He couldn't help how his eyes simply dropped to her legs, the creamy skin of her thighs as the skirt rode up them. He felt mildly disgusted by his own inability to restrain himself when it came to her and everything about her and he shot his eyes back forward when she turned back – blind as she was, he couldn't help but to feel as if she would _know_ he was checking her out. A weird girl sixth sense, he convinced himself.

"It's at Kidd's house – Gallows Manor, it's by the edge of town. If you take this street down, you can just take Gower all the way up. It should be on the left-hand side, if I remember correctly" Maka instructed and Soul grunted back.

"You _always _remember," he muttered, shifting the car into drive. Maka smirked back. The ride was mostly silent, filled with Maka's occasional hum until he turned on the radio. They fought for the station, as usual, and decided that this time he'd get to choose but the ride back would be her turn.

"Big house," Soul commented when they arrived, whistling at the size of the place.

"It's even bigger once you're inside!" Maka added, having been in it numerous times when she had her sight. She wistfully thought it must look _beautiful_ tonight, a simple manor with no external decorations like other times, but brushed the thought off before it could depress her. "Come on! Let's go!"

Everything was as he remembered parties to be: it was painfully bright, it was loud, and, worst of all, it was full of people. From the moment he stepped out of the car to the moment they walked, hand-in hand, into the enormous mansion, it was packed with people. The floors had been waxed, reflecting the painfully bright light of the chandelier whose droplets of crystals refracted the light in every possible _way_, in every possible _color_, in every possible _direction_. His eyes already felt dry, tired, and it hadn't even been twenty minutes since they arrived. Maka was greeted by everyone and, he was sure, people who had not a clue whom she was – only that she was blind and she had contributed so much to the company and they were immensely impressed and proud of her accomplishments. At least that's what he heard when he actually paid attention.

The majority of the time was spent with him standing by her side, holding her hand so she had some guidance, ignoring the curious looks the guests gave them when they noticed their held hands, and wondering when it would be appropriate to ask if they could go home already. He spotted Liz and Patty somewhere down by the snack table but he couldn't be sure: there were a lot of women with blonde hair in the ballroom, all sorts of shades but ultimately they all looked the same to Soul under this awful lighting. He could only imagine how _he _looked: bright light and him just didn't mix, he grimaced, running his fingers through his bleach-white hair self-consciously.

"Let's go get something to drink!" Maka suggested, cheerfully. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink and her unfocused green eyes shone brighter than usual. Almost like before, he thought absently. "There should be water somewhere. All I can smell the _champagne_," she wrinkled her nose and he chuckled.

"I've got champagne," he taunted her.

"Eh? You do?" She rose her hand, reaching for where she presumed his would be. He moved it away.

"Yeah, and _you_ can't have any!"

"Why not? I should be the one drinking! You're driving!"

"One glass won't impair my driving," he scoffed. "Not at this rate. When are we leaving, by the way?"

"Around midnight!"

"I should have two glasses, then, or else I might kill myself," Soul muttered morbidly and snatched his drink away when Maka tried to reach for it again.

"Give me some! Or take me to get some water!" Maka demanded and Soul scowled. He eyed the length of the ballroom, catching glimpses of the jug of fresh ice water that laid across a delicately woven table runner, and decided, upon chancing Maka's glare, he'd risk it after all. He tugged her along and made sure she didn't bump into anyone although, he noticed, she avoided people as if she could _see _them. He supposed those vague shadows had finally become outlines of things. He wondered when the color and texture would return, if he would be there when it happened. He hoped he would but simultaneously dreaded that moment – that moment when she'd regain her vision, her _life_, her independence, everything, and then it would just be him and _only_ him again after so many months of it being just him and her: Soul and Maka.

He wouldn't be needed anymore. Like usual.

Soul swallowed the bitterness in his chest and pushed those dark thoughts to the back of his mind for later. It was bad enough he agreed to come to what he blandly called a 'suit-and-tie convention' even though he forewent the suit for something more casual but still appropriate for the occasion. Better than a suit, anyway, he added mentally when he caught another poor man tugging on his tie with a hopeless expression.

"When do you wanna' leave?" Soul yawned as she drank a glass of water.

"What time is it?"

"Around ten."

"It's still early, we barely got here! Just two more hours!" Maka held up two fingers and he sighed. Her eyes shifted to the center ballroom, where she could see the figures of people swaying with the soft sounds of classical music that drifted from a corner of the room. She wanted to try and dance but felt nervous at the thought. She didn't know _how_ and it didn't help that her vision was impaired at the moment. Maka glanced at Soul, only seeing his lean outline and catching a smudge of white that she knew was his hair from the very corner. Maka rubbed her eyes out and looked away. It was as if she were looking through a very foggy window: colors meshed uncomfortably and figures were no more than shadows, sometimes brief outlines of things. But it was better than last week, a few hours ago even!

"Soul, let's dance!" Maka asked, feeling courageous with every blink of her eyes.

"What? You can't see!"

"I don't need to _see_ to dance, Soul!"

"Yes, you do! You'll step on my toes if we try!" He argued. "You're wearing _heels!_"

Maka pinked. "I'm not that bad of a dancer!"

"No," he flatly declined.

"Just one dance!" Maka pleaded, feeling more disappointed when firmly said _no_. She had been about to argue it some more when someone tapped her on the shoulder. A cheery voice soon made itself known:

"Maka! Yay, you made it!"

"Patty!" Maka greeted, hugging the girl who squeezed her back. Patty frowned at the skirt she wore and had been about to comment on it when Soul rose his hand and made a slitting motion with it over his throat. The younger Thompson narrowed her eyes but complied, more out of curiosity for his panic than because she was cutting him a deal. "Where's Liz? I thought she'd be with you!"

"Sissy is dancing with someone!" Patty chirped and Maka pouted. "How come you aren't dancing, Maka?"

"I dunno', cuz she's _blind?"_ Soul sneered.

"Because _this bastard _won't take me out!" Maka steamed, fisting her hands and looking away crossly. Her anger drained to nervousness. "A-and I don't really know anyone else…"

"Oh, is that it?" Patty laughed joyously and Maka cocked her head "Silly! It's okay! Here – wait a second!" She bounded off and for a moment, they were alone, until Patty came back with company. Maka could barely distinguish another figure with her – a man, she was sure, because of his broad shoulders and tall stature. He looked rather familiar, actually, Maka squinted. "Maka, here's Kidd! He said he'd do it!" She slapped his back heartily. Kidd looked bewildered. "Right, Kiddo?"

"What?"

"Oh," Maka smiled. "Hi, Kidd!"

"Maka, hello. Ah…if you wish to dance, I would be more than happy to take you out," Kidd slowly began, unsure of what just happened. But he had been meaning to speak to Maka about some things anyway: he could simply do it as they waltzed. "Maka?"

"I-I'd like to, if you don't mind!" Maka squeaked, red dashing her cheeks shyly. He held out his hand and she took it, adamantly ignoring Soul as Kidd led her to the ballroom.

"He's gonna' loose a toe," Soul deadpanned.

Patty giggled. "It'll be fun to watch if he does! Don't you think?"

Soul didn't reply: he watched coolly as Kidd carefully taught Maka how to waltz. He stifled laughter the few times Maka _did_ stab her heel into his shoe but Kidd was gentlemanly about it and he didn't make a fuss whenever it happened. He was patient and soon Maka got the rhythm of it and moved along with him with a lot more ease; practically fitting in with the others. There was a moment of poignant jealously as he watched them dance; a prolonged second when he regretted rejecting her in favor of keeping his toes in one piece. She was either holding his hand or by his side whenever they were together; even at home they gravitated towards each other. He did it consciously, not wanting to leave her alone for too long in case she needed help or got hurt. He had a bad experience with being left alone when he was injured. He'd broken his ankle once and his brother, Wes, had been in charge of caring for him. His brother had taken a call downstairs and took awhile and it was in that while that Soul needed to take a leak with desperation. His idiot self, instead of shouting for Wes, tried to walk to the bathroom. Needless to say, that ended in another trip to the hospital and a lot of scolding from Wes and his parents.

"No broken toes!" Patty pouted as the song came to a close. "Darn!"

"Not bad," Soul commented when Maka returned, her cheeks prettily flushed and a new glow in her eyes. Patty took hold of Kidd's arm and swung him back to the ballroom, the poor man suffering through another long song. "You didn't trip like I thought you would."

"Your confidence in me is _amazing_," Maka scowled at him. He only grinned.

"Isn't it?"

"_Soul_," Maka growled but her retort was cut short when he took her hand, turning her away from the ballroom. "What are you doing? Where are we going?"

"Outside, it's stuffy in here," Soul stated. "The balcony's empty right now."

"Balcony?" Maka perked up and smiled when she felt the cold air prick her skin soon after. She touched for the rail, feeling smooth stone beneath her fingers instead of the expected metal. It was dark outside so everything was suddenly swathed in shadows for her, with the occasional prick of light if she squinted hard enough. The wind blew eastward, tangling in her hair, which she held down with one hand. Maka mournfully wished she could see the sky but it was only black now, no matter how hard she squinted it stayed black. She was only able to see those bright pinpricks of lights which she assumed were back porch lights from the neighboring houses. She could just barely hear the soft sounds of the orchestra from where she stood and she snuck a glance at Soul, who gazed out past the neighboring trees she assumed. She knew he liked to do that; to look away from crowds, towards something she wasn't quite sure of yet. But she'd figure it out someday.

"Soul?"

"Hn?"

"Can you dance with me?"

"You danced with Kidd already," Soul frowned.

"But not you," Maka piped. Before he could say anything, she added: "Please? Just one dance! I won't step on your toes, I promise!"

"Maka," he sighed.

"Come on, Soul!" Maka begged, tugging on his arm. "_Please?_"

After a moment or two of staring into her pleading emerald eyes, he relented. He exhaled an annoyed breath and said, "Fine," and smiled faintly when she squealed. "Let's wait for the next song."

She happily did although, when the next song came, Soul was smug to say that she would _not_ know how to dance this. She realized this, too, and gnawed on her bottom lip nervously.

"You ready?"

"Um.."

"Good," he smirked and she swallowed. "Hold onto me," Soul told her, guiding her hand to his shoulder while the other rested on his palm. His own hand rested on the curve of her waist and he nudged her foot apart so she wouldn't stand so rigid.

"But, Soul!"

"Just follow my lead."

"I-I don't know what to do, this music is different than last time!" Maka flustered, feeling awkward although they were alone on the balcony and not surrounded by a multitude of people. The tall doors were partially closed; they were as alone as they could be at a party. "Maybe this was a bad idea! Let's wait for the next song!"

"You told me you wanted to dance, so we're _doing_ it," Soul smirked and looked down at their feet. "Move when I move." She did and for a moment it was fine but, of course, Soul winced when her heel accidentally dug into his toes. She apologized, looking up at him sheepishly before they both tried again. It was trail and error, with Soul and her arguing about who was doing what wrong, until they settled on a rhythm; a _pattern_. Maka felt at ease, letting the smooth jazz glide over her content thoughts while Soul gazed at her soft cheeks and her pink lips, to the curve of her jaw down to the elegant drop of her slender neck that would lead to the arch of her back.

They grew closer. He breathed in the sweet fragrance of spring flowers and vanilla and his hand slid across her back, bringing her in even closer until her nose brushed his chest and she rested her cheek against it. There was security in his embrace, as there had always been. Her hand slid down from his shoulder and she embraced him tightly, no longer following the steps – they merely swayed, locked in each others arms, lost in their own thoughts and feelings. He played with her hair absently, wrapping strands of it around his fingers as he always did. Despite being in uncomfortable heels, Maka wouldn't have minded standing there all night. That was why she morosely cursed the intrusion of Liz Thompson when she pushed the balcony doors open.

"I knew you two would…be here?" She trailed off when Soul stepped back and Maka dropped her arms from around him instantly. She eyed them both for a moment before smiling. "Kidd says they're going to bring in the cake in a few minutes! There's already a line for it!"

Maka perked up. "Cake?"

"What is this, a birthday party?" Soul scowled.

"No, but Patty told him to buy a cake for everyone when he planned this. She said everyone would appreciate cake so do you want some?"

"What kind did you guys decide on?" Maka asked.

"All chocolate!" Liz laughed when Maka wrinkled her nose.

"That's way too sweet!"

"I'll bring you a small piece!" Liz promised. "What about you, Soul?"

"Biggest one you can get!" Soul grinned toothily. He frowned when he found Maka looking up at him, flatly, as Liz left to get the cake. "What?"

"Your teeth are going to fall out if you keep eating so much sugar."

He snorted. "Let them, maybe I'd look less weird without them."

"Don't say that, your teeth are fine."

"They're _pointy!_"

"They're _fine!_"

He didn't push the argument, stewing in his own thoughts.

"They really are fine," Maka mumbled and he rolled his eyes moodily, huffing out a breath. He stuffed his hands in his slacks and leaned against the rail while Maka turned back to face the view. She squinted in the black distance, trying to make out shapes or at least _distinguish_ the shadows from the real darkness of the evening, while they waited for Liz to return.

"Here you go!" Liz sang upon her arrival, nudging Maka with the plate.

"Oh, thanks," Maka smiled, holding the plate uncertainly. She really didn't like eating sweets, especially all-chocolate. It made her teeth hurt. She would probably let Soul have it by the end of the night – she could already _hear_ him devouring his share like the ravenous beast he was.

"So, _why_ didn't you wear the skirt I got you again?" Liz demanded, sounding very displeased, and Maka stilled. Soul froze mid-way eating his cake, slowly looking at both women.

"What do you mean—? SOUL!" Maka snarled, turning to him with frightening accuracy. He was always amazed at how she knew where he was whenever she was pissed. "You said this was the skirt they got me!"

"They all look the same!"

"The one I got her was _black_, you idiot, this one is freakin' _blue!" _Liz tapped her foot impatiently.

"Same thing!" Soul grumbled. "Black, blue, whatever, she wore _something_, didn't she?"

"Uh huh," Liz slit her eyes at him.

"I _knew_ it felt different!" Maka steamed and gave Liz an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Liz, I promise I'll wear it some other time! I know Kidd always throws a Thanksgiving feast, I can wear it then!"

Soul rolled his eyes at her fretting, ignoring the looks Liz kept throwing him. After a few seconds of ignoring Liz, Soul turned and sent her a dark glower. Liz only grinned like she won a raffle.

"Hmm...it's okay, Maka. You don't _have_ to wear it," she chuckled, patting her cheek affectionately. "You can just wear it around the house! Y'know, break it in and stuff!"

"But it felt like such a nice skirt..." Maka faltered.

"Nah, it can be casual, too!" Liz shot Soul a crooked grin. "Just wear it around the house…I'm sure Soul won't mind, right, Soul?"

Soul turned away defiantly.

"If you say so…" Maka trailed off with uncertainty. The rest of the night was spent with Liz guiding her from person to person, conversation to conversation, while Soul trailed a few steps behind them lazily. It wasn't until the strong lights from the ballroom began to make Maka's eyes dry and itchy that she _finally_ asked Soul if they could leave. He'd only been too eager, quickly handing her off person to person to say goodbye and practically pushing her out the door and toward her car.

"You can be _such_ a housewife, Soul," Liz had smirked at Soul for only him to hear before they left and, unfortunately, he had nothing to say to that. He figured Maka would be pissed when she figured out he switched the skirts. He figured even if he tried to explain himself, it wouldn't work, because explaining would reveal too much and just be plain uncool on his part. He figured Liz would never drop that nickname as long as he stayed by Maka's side and he figured it was best to ignore it since, really, what the hell was the _point_ in fighting something that was coming true with every passing day?

Next thing you know, he'd be wearing a stupid frilly apron and making her breakfast in bed or something.

Soul shuddered at the thought as he drove Maka back home.

_Not_ in his lifetime, he vowed, not in this year anyway…


	4. Chapter 4

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

This happened every once and a while.

She lost things.

She doesn't usually lose things but when she did, she could be assured she would spend _hours_ just trying to find it. It was painstaking, trying to remember where she had last been when she had it, what she had been doing, or if she had left it at the office or it was simply in the house somewhere. She spent it blindly (_literally_) searching for it and usually came out empty handed, just as she had this time. Usually she called Soul and asked him and, for the most part, he helped her puzzle out where that particular lost item was. Except that evening the lost item was her cellphone and she did not have Soul's number memorized so she couldn't call him using her home phone. He had recently switched companies and, with it, came a different cellphone number to her bad luck.

She wished she had taken the time to memorize it like she said she would.

She had wanted to call him to ask him if, later, he could drop by to take her grocery shopping because she was out of orange juice and a couple of other things. Today was one of her days off so she used this time to ensure her kitchen was well-stocked since Soul used everything in her fridge to his hearts content. But now how was she going to go grocery shopping if no one could take her? She was half-way hoping Soul would drop by later regardless but today was a Thursday and Thursday's meant Soul would sloth over to his apartment and sleep until the next morning. He awoke earlier on Thursday's and was generally very busy but, she figured, taking her to the market for some things wouldn't tire him out _too bad._ He'd certainly done it before and it usually came with a reward: he could make anything he wanted the next morning and, certainly, he had taken advantage of it before by cooking a big breakfast that had him and her full until dinner came around.

Maka's hand paused, hovering over the sofa cushions. She squinted her eyes and squinted again, blinking away the dots that had consumed her vision. She sat down and rubbed her eyes out, her head stuffy with a dull throb in the back, and before it could get out of hand, she stood up and touched her way to the bathroom. She popped two pills and leaned down to gulp some water from the open faucet to swallow them down easier. That would take care of any incoming headaches, she thought, and rubbed her eyes out again.

She'd been getting these sorts of strange dots in her vision for a while now. It was usually accompanied by dizziness and an assortment of other symptoms that would convince Soul to take her to see Dr. Stein if he knew. But it went away with a few pain pills, sometimes even regular Advil, and Maka had the hope that her vision was returning. Dr. Stein had told her that she _had_ been showing significant progress in her eyes and he'd assured she was doing fine...

_But I still can't see, _she thought grimly. _And knowing Soul, he won't drop by until tomorrow...and I really wanted him to make some strawberry chocolate chip pancakes! I haven't had those in forever! _Maka gnawed her bottom her lip as she weighed the pros and cons of going to the market on her own. She could get all she needed from the small market a few blocks down but that meant being extremely careful crossing the roads. Amongst other things. She could make out shapes, at least enough where if she neared an object she could go around it, but there would be no way she could spot an incoming car.

But she had always had good hearing.

"I can do this!" Maka told herself, smiling. "It's just grocery shopping. And there's no rush!" She nodded and made her way back into her room where she dug through her closet for a sweater. She slipped on some sweat pants and shoved her feet into sneakers before she was off, locking the door behind her with a quiet gulp and hoping she didn't get herself killed because she was _sure_ Soul would find her in the afterlife and strangle her himself for being such a reckless idiot.

The first problem came with which way she would take to reach the store. But she was sure it was down her left-hand side; even _she_ hadn't been kept inside enough not to know _that_. The second problem was the crosswalk. She had forgotten there was one in the first place but luckily there had been cars so she had been able to gauge just when she could walk and when she couldn't. The third problem had been finding the store because it was squished between a few other stores down the block.

It took her five tries to find the store.

She walked into a pet store the first time.

Then a shoe store.

Then she walked a few steps and turned into an herbal tea store.

Then she worried about having taken the wrong turn and she would have turned back had she not heard the familiar sound of grocery bags being carried. But she still walked into an accessory store first before _finally _walking into the grocery store.

Then came the next problem: finding _all_ that she needed without making a total idiot out of herself in the process. She would say she didn't totally make an idiot out of herself but she did blush a horrible red when she picked up an apple and it caused a rain of apples to fall down. Too many for her to find, she was embarrassed to know that she couldn't find all of them without crawling on the floor with her hands out.

She would have inched away and pretended it never happened had a nice boy not asked if she needed any help.

"Are you okay there? You look kinda'...lost. Here!" He offered cheerfully and Maka paused, her hand held out until she felt him push the apple into her hand with wary slowness.

"Oh, thanks! Um, by the way, would you know where the strawberries are?"

"Ah, they're right beside the apples."

"What, really?" Maka squeaked and turned, her fingers feeling apples, more apples, and _more_ apples until she felt the washed, fresh, strawberries underneath her fingertips. "Oh! Thank you!"

"Uh. Are you...I mean..."

"Yes, I can't see," she answered evenly and he cleared his throat, shuffling. She sense him, could practically_ hear _his inner struggle, about whether or not to let the blind girl wander around the shop looking for things that were otherwise right in front of her. Maka dropped her useless sight to the bags in her hand bitterly before she dismissed the thoughts. She was blind and, well, there was not much she could do about it until her vision decided to come back. It was coming, slowly, slower than she wanted, but it was coming and soon she would not be stuck in these sorts of situations. Soon she would be able to grocery shop all by herself and look for her cellphone and actually _find it_ and not have this childish _urge _to drop her things and sit down and bury her face in her knees and wait for Soul to come and pick her up. She didn't want to feel that, she didn't want to rely on him so much because it was days like Thursday that reminded her of how much of his time she was _really_ consuming. It was days like today that reminded her of how much responsibility he was really shouldering.

He worked. He worked long hours on days she had off from work and shorter hours on days she didn't so he could pick her up from said workplace and cater to her at home. He did so much, she realized with a heavy heart, and here she was throwing fits because she couldn't find goddamn strawberries. Compared to him, she thought grimly, she really had nothing to complain about. Her life could have turned out a lot more miserable than it actually was...

_"_Eh, y'know, I've got some time to spare, if you need any help! It's not that big of a store but, uh, if you really need it I can help you out..."

"No, it's fine. I can do this," she smiled at him and she only reached the end of the aisle before she paused and realized she had no idea where she would find chocolate chips.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" the guy shouted, sounding a tinge teasing.

"I..." Maka turned back sheepishly. "Do you know where the bags of chocolate chips are?"

"On the other side of the store."

"Right or left?"

"Left...no, wait, my left! My left!"

Maka growled in frustration, setting a hand on her hip. "Don't you mean _your_ right?"

"What?"

She heaved a sigh. "Would you mind taking me to where the chocolate chips are? I don't think I'd get anywhere with your directions," she added dryly and waited as he approached her with a sheepish sort of laugh, patting her shoulder and nudging her in the right direction. It turned out his name was Hiro and he had been looking for a job in the grocery store. He had just come out of what he hoped was a successful interview with the manager when he caught her wandering about, looking as lost as a foreigner in a new city. He was nice enough, she supposed, even though he was a lot more touchy than she pegged him for. It had to do with the fact that, like others and even some of her friends, he felt the need to hold her hand or grab her shoulder lest she bump into things or hurt herself. It was a sort of anxiety people who had never dealt with the blind had and Maka didn't blame them so much as she was simply exasperated by them.

She didn't need as much help as they thought she did.

Soul knew that. She knew he did but he still held her hand not to guide her like most people thought but to _reassure_ her. She needed his reassurance that things were alright and _she_ was alright more than she needed his touch for guidance in the physical world. Because there was more going on inside of her than outside, she had learned quickly. The only times she held his hand for _real_ guidance was in unfamiliar places and, she hated to admit, in the mornings when she woke up because she was usually too groggy to remember where everything was.

He knew that, too.

And he never failed to point it out, smug grin and all.

"Well, thank you for helping me!" Maka chirped after she checked out, clutching her grocery bags close to her. She could feel the suns warmth on her skin and she smiled, happy that at least she managed to save Soul some time from taking her grocery shopping. Maybe now he could sleep more and rest up for tomorrow, she thought optimistically. She wanted to do her part and not let Soul carry her entire weight.

"Yeah, sure, no prob! I didn't have anything to do after this, anyway!" He laughed in reply.

Maka smiled. "I have to get back home now, before the sun goes down."

"Yeah, you still have another hour or so before it goes down completely," Hiro replied, cheerily as always. Maka nodded her head and said one last goodbye, turning on her heel to head down the way she knew would lead her back home. She caught the familiar sounds of the pet store and, reassured, she quickened her pace. She would have gone home like that, using her heightened hearing and other senses like she had last time, had Hiro not stopped her and grabbed her arm _again._

"Er, wait, Maka!" He rushed back to her, grabbing her arm. "It's me, don't freak out!"

"I wasn't _going_ to," Maka muttered to herself, irked, and moved away from his touch. "What is it, Hiro?"

"Erm, how about I walk you home? Y'know, it's getting pretty dark and there's a lot of traffic!" He blurted and Maka heaved a sigh.

"It's okay. I can go back by myself."

"But...I'd feel a lot better if I knew you got home safe. Please, just let me walk you home?"

After a seconds thought, Maka nodded and she rattled off her address as she adjusted her fingers on her groceries. He seemed familiar with the neighborhood as he led the way and he had said that he drove by her place all the time when he worked as a cashier at the mall not too far away. Hiro stood a lot further from her than Soul did and she was relieved by it. It was bad enough he kept grabbing her arm to stop her or kept badgering her about carrying her grocery bags for her. She didn't think she would be able to keep her temper if he hovered around her like Soul did.

Soul could hover; she was okay with his hovering.

Hiro just..._couldn't._

_I wonder if Soul got home safely, _Maka thought as Hiro did an admirable job of supplying enough conversation for the both of them. _He better call my house phone so I can ask for his cell phone again. Hmm knowing him, he'll get home and knock right out without even bothering. _She sighed softly but smiled. She had been about to ask Hiro if they were close when the roar of a motorcycle caught her ears. She stopped abruptly, whipping her head towards the sound, and her gut did this ice-cold plunge to the floor when the noise sped past her before stopping suddenly ahead. She was pretty sure there was no stop sign or light ahead, too...

"Hey, you alright? You look kinda' pale," Hiro asked, curiously.

"Um, that guy, on the motorcycle," Maka began, knowing she was screwed. Here she thought he would just go home and pass out and he would be none the wiser to her admittedly reckless attempt at independence. "Did he have white hair - no, is he coming this way? Hiro, is he coming this way?"

"...Yeeeaaah, why?" He cocked his head. "His hair is really...white and spiky and stuff. It's kinda' cool..." he trailed off, more to himself than Maka, watching the guy park his bike on the curb and approach with increasing speed.

"Crap," she muttered and stopped walking, holding the grocery bags to herself with a visible pout. Hiro watched her for a few seconds longer and then turned his sight to the intimidating delinquent that walked down the sidewalk with purpose. He was taller than he thought he would be, with broad shoulders and hands fitted into fingerless black gloves. He had a leather jacket thrown over him and he would swear his boots thundered with every step he took. The look on his face was murderous and for a second, Hiro thought about patting Maka on the head and running off in the other direction with a _you're on your own! _echoing over his shoulder. But that would just be plain embarrassing so he sucked it up and turned to Maka, setting his features in what he hoped was seriousness. Or at least calm. Calm was good, too.

"I-is he bullying you or something, Maka?" Hiro asked, ready to stand up for her even though he was sure he'd back down the instant he was within ten feet of them. "Want me to call the police or - !"

"What? _No!_" Maka laughed, snorting because she caught the tremble in his voice. "No, don't do anything like that! He's just...He's my caretaker," Maka admitted with a happy but sheepish beam. "And he's probably more than mad that I went out all by myself."

Turned out she was right.

"Maka!" Soul snapped once he was in ear-shot, looking every bit as intimidating as Hiro thought he was. His decidedly gruff voice didn't make things any better. "What the hell are you doing all the way out here, you idiot? Don't tell me you actually went out to buy groceries all by yourself - you could've gotten hit by a car or something! Why didn't you call me?!"

"I was _going_ to except I don't remember where I left my phone! And I don't know your new number so I couldn't call you using my house phone, either," Maka argued. Soul was only partially pacified. "But I'm fine! Nothing happened to me, I was careful!"

"Just because _you_ were careful doesn't mean some bastard on the road is, too! This was really reckless of you, damn it," Soul grumbled and shifted his eyes to Hiro, who stiffened at being acknowledged. He thumbed over to him with a risen brow. "Hey, who's the pansy?"

"P-p-_pansy?!_" Hiro sputtered, more of a whine than real offense.

"Soul, be nice!" Maka chided and let the grocery bags be taken from her by Soul. Hiro noticed with some curiosity that she let herself be touched by him freely as well. Every time he patted her shoulder, it became hard like stone. "His name is Hiro and he was nice enough to guide me around the grocery store for my things and even walk me back!"

Hiro felt cold sweat break out on his forehead from Soul's even stare and he had the brief thought that the next few hours were going to be painful. He knew that look, he got it from the guys at the gym a lot whenever he ran his mouth. So he was thoroughly flabbergasted when Soul smiled all of a sudden, going from a delinquent thug to a regular guy in less time that it took to blink.

"Hey, that was pretty cool of you, man," Soul grinned, stepping closer to Maka and ruffling her hair with a visibly fond gleam in his eye. He shoved her head down a little in what resembled a messy bow despite her protests, his smile faint on his lips but bright in his eyes, and said to him, "Hopefully she wasn't a handful, she can be really temperamental when things don't go her way."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Maka whined, poking his side viciously until he let her go.

"Like that," Soul muttered and smiled crookedly at her dignified huff.

"Uh, no, not at all! She was really nice the entire time! I was happy to help her!" Hiro hurried, unsure of how to take being thanked so sincerely like that. He wasn't that bad of a guy, Hiro realized with a more confident smile, he just looked the part of a bad guy but surely -

"Good, because if _anything_ had happened to her," Soul looked at him directly with a smile but his eyes were flinty and dangerous, holding the promise of something a lot darker. They spelled out everything very clearly for him and once more he found himself sweating cold. Soul might be a nice guy but that didn't mean he couldn't act the part of a bad guy, Hiro weakly thought. "Well, let's not talk about that right now. It isn't cool."

Hiro managed a weak laugh in reply.

"Talk about what? Nothing happened to me!" Maka scowled, not taking lightly to be ignored. "I'm fine and look!" She held the one bag she had insisted on carrying to Soul. "I got strawberries! Can you make some of your strawberry chocolate pancakes tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, sure, if you want," he smiled softly when she smiled widely, holding the bag close to her chest.

Hiro was more than a little perturbed to find his entire view on cool bad guys so skewed by this _one guy._ Here he came dressed down all the way to his shoes in clothes which one would otherwise label as _cool_ and _rebellious_ but he was caring for this tiny girl with beautiful green eyes and the prettiest smile he's ever seen, who dressed more casually in sweat pants and an off-the-shoulder sweater, and whose voice was highly feminine and a stark contrast to Soul's deeply masculine one. She was also intelligent, rather sharp of tone now that he thought about it, while this Soul guy held a sort of casual drawl to his words. Every thing about both of them exclaimed _different _yet they worked so well together, he thought to himself with awe, just looking at them made him think, well...

Hiro quirked a smile. "Well, now that your boyfriend's here to take you back home, I guess I'm not needed anymore!" He chuckled and he blinked when Maka squealed and shook her head, her cheeks reddening, while Soul cleared his throat, his face set gruffly although there was the faintest trace of red on his own cheeks.

"We're not together," he stiffly corrected.

"He-he's my _caretaker!_" Maka flustered.

"Oh...I thought that was just some kinky pet name," Hiro admitted innocently and this time Soul _did_ flush.

"Dude, I don't know what you're into but, when someone says they're someone's caretaker...I think that they're just someone's _caretaker,_" he deadpanned and Hiro laughed, sheepishly.

"Eh, I guess. My bad!" He looked at Soul and smiled a bit. "It's just, you guys somehow..._work together_."

Soul shifted his eyes away from him as Maka shook her head fervently, that trace of red on her cheeks brighter than ever, and he withheld a chuckle of fondness at her own sputters. He ruffled her hair once more before he bid Hiro another friendly thanks and goodbye, ignoring Maka when she growled to _stop doing that, I hate it when you do that! _and nudged her down the sidewalk towards his motorcycle. Not really fitting for grocery shopping but she didn't have much on her, anyway.

"Some adventure you had today, eh?" Soul remarked, letting Maka cradle the bags of groceries between them as he revved his bike. He waited for her to get adjusted as she replied:

"Mm!" Maka smiled. "It felt good, though, to be able to do something by myself for once."

"You're a lot stronger than you believe, y'know," Soul commented and when she didn't reply, nudged her with his elbow. "Don't get too down on yourself. You'll get your sight back and then...you'll be able to do stuff like this all the time," he added hesitantly. "You won't, need me anymore." He tried not to let it get to him too bad, the idea of being unneeded anymore, of being unneeded _again, _and before she could reply he revved his bike one more time and kicked off, heading back to the apartment with a troubled ache in his chest and a furrow between his brows.

* * *

It was good. She thought that this was _good_, this was good although Soul had a point. The day would come where she would not need him anymore but that was a good thing! It _had_ to be a good thing. She was being good, making a _real effort_ to be more independent rather than dependent. Being dependent was never a good thing, she told herself, just look where it got her father. Her father had become dependent on her mother because with her help, he had succeeded in his career. He relied on her too heavily, though, and let her shoulder too much of his weight in the long run. Although, Maka admitted, if there was once thing her mother couldn't influence it was the way her father flirted around with other women, which eventually lead to the divorce when he was caught red-handed in the worst of ways by her mother...

But this was good, she thought, this was a good start for her.

She could do this. After she regained her vision, she would be able to go along her life on her own. It was okay, she told herself firmly, _everything was going to be okay. _There was no need to feel so stricken at the thought of not having Soul around the apartment anymore, of not hearing his faint snores when he dozed off on the couch or of not hearing him poke around in the kitchen in the early morning. She tried to tell herself it was a good thing but she found it only made that ache in her chest a lot heavier, a lot more painful.

"Hey, smart one, phone was on the coffee table!" Soul's voice drifted in from the living room, sounding a lot more smug than it should. Maka broke out of her broody thoughts, instinctively tilting her head towards the sound of his voice. "Didn't think to check there, did you? Geez, you're hopeless...I'm gonna' charge it and when it's done, put it in your bag and, for the love of all that's holy, _don't take it out_. Cuz if you lose it, I'm not getting you another one!"

"You don't _have_ to!" She snapped back.

"Uh, yes I do because you _need_ it!"

"But you just said you wouldn't get another one!"

"I won't."

"Then?!"

"I won't but I will so your argument is invalid."

"Wha-how...? _Ugh_, SOUL!" Maka closed her eyes at his cackling and took a deep breath to reign in her temper, making sure to place the cup on the counter before she broke it in her fist. "One more word," she shouted back warningly, "and you're dead!"

"If you can find me," was his clever reply. So he was in a playful mood, was he? Maka thought with a tinge of deviousness. Two could play at this game. Maka moved to grab one of the coasters Soul had picked up from the coffee table to wash. She peered out of the kitchen and, zeroing in on the direction of his snickering, tossed the coaster with frightening accuracy and smiled with satisfaction when it hit him dead on the back of his head. _Bulls eye_, she sang to herself as she returned to the kitchen counter.

"Ouch! What the - how the hell do you _do _that?"

"_Magic_," was her clever reply.

"Ha ha, very funny, Maka," he grumbled back, rubbing his head. "By the way, your shows on. You gonna' watch it or not? Cuz if you're not, I'm gonna' watch basketball!"

"No! Don't change it, I'll be right there!" Maka hollered back and finished her glass of water. She squeezed her eyes shut when she thought she caught sight, real _sight_, of the glass and she opened them again. No, it was real. She could _see_ the faint outline of the glass she was holding. She peered closer, her eyes widening when she realized she could almost..._see it._ A sort of opaque surface, gleaming. She could not see it well, there was a profound darkness that clouded the majority of her vision, but a sliver. It was only a sliver but she _could almost see_...

"Maka?"

"I'm co...coming," Maka answered a little unsteadily and placed the cup in the sink, taking only a second to breathe before she headed to the living room and let herself fall on the couch right beside him. He wiggled out his arm from between them and let it rest on the top of the couch behind her neck, settling in to watch her melodramatic show while she listened to it. They were back to proper routine, with him adding commentary and her defending her soap opera. Back to proper routine, she thought, but for how long?

Maka tentatively reached over to his lap, flipping her hand quietly. He replied kindly, pressing his free hand over hers and squeezing it, letting her hold it without any questions as they both watched the soap opera with troubled thoughts.


	5. Chapter 5

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

She could see him.

Not well but she could see _enough_, especially when she squinted. She could see how his bleached hair flopped over his eyes continuously, making her think he needed a haircut stat. His skin, tanner than she thought it would be. She saw how he normally dressed: cool casual, not tough like she expected, with jeans that often rode low on his hips because his belts were more for show. His shirts ranged from plain t's to flannel to muscle tops back to t-shirts. He had scarcely worn headbands before, she remembered, but as the days grew humid and stifling with the coming of summer, he wore them with more frequency. But aside from his wardrobe choices and purposely overgrown hair (that was often styled to spike back if the day was not too hot), what she noticed the most were his striking eyes.

They were so _red. _Perhaps because her vision was blurred and constantly adjusting, it was a fuller red than it really was, but she was often left in a sort of daze whenever he directed those red, red eyes of his to her. It was those times that she wanted to confess she was no longer legally blind but before the words could come out of her mouth, he would move away or distract her, and the urge to confess her secret would disappear.

It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to tell anyone that she could see now. It was that a part of her, a _large_ and _selfish _part of her that was steadily growing, feared what would happen when she did. She feared the changes it would bring. She didn't want to admit it, much less to him or the sisters, but she _liked _being cared for and doted on. She had spent so much of her life in frustrating solitude after she left her home at the age of seventeen; so much of it spent taking care of herself, of others (most notably her drunkard father), that this sudden role reversal had not only taken her by surprise but eventually, dare she say, spoiled her.

She was _spoiled._ That was the right word for it.

She admitted that much.

Soul had _spoiled her_ to the point where if he didn't lead her to bed and sit on the edge and lift her bed sheet to cover her, the night would be restless for her. She hated that, to an extent, just how _selfish _she had become; a hurtful reminder of how her father often acted, like some needy child who needed constant approval or else the days just weren't worth it. She had never been like this before, perhaps because her mother had taught her better or because her mother had not been there at all so she never developed that need, but the accident had shook her very foundations and had left her with an internal emotional wreckage that she'd nearly succumbed to if it weren't for Soul and the sisters help. And now that she was better, she had to regain that independence so many complimented her on. She had to work on it, bring it back so things really _did_ go back to how they were before.

The question was _how_ when all she wanted to do was lounge on the couch, her head cushioned on Soul's lap, his fingers playing with her hair, the television droning in the background, just like how it was at that very moment. She opened her eyes and looked at him, how he watched the basketball game with an almost drowsy patience. She noticed that, how he often looked patient - or bored, if you preferred that term. Undisturbed, calm, blank-faced but just as easily as that expression slid into place it would be gone - smiling, eyes twinkling, a grin or a laugh or a smirk or a deep frown that quickly became a scowl whenever she teased him.

She noticed his jaw moving and when she shifted to get a better look, she saw his tongue was poking at his teeth again. His teeth, they were not as bad as he dourly said they were. They were actually nice, how white and straight they were, although they were pointy like the teeth of a shark, which was what she supposed he had an issue with. He once let it slip that people had bullied him for it until he accepted them and dared to flaunt them, then they had stopped. Something about bullying no longer being fun if the one being bullied happily took the insults, he'd muttered darkly one day.

Maka bit the inside of her lip.

She always wondered...

Well, he still thought she was _blind, _right?

Maka reached up suddenly and Soul blinked out of his daze, looking down at her. He let her fingers run over his cheekbones, his jawline, before her forefinger touched his lips. She paused then, debating her next move, because she was sure that shoving her fingers into his mouth was rude and would probably get her finger chomped off.

"I want to feel how sharp they are," Maka told him.

Instantly, his face soured and he glared not at her but at the television. He swatted her hand away and grumbled, "I don't want your fingers inside my mouth. That's gross."

"Come on, just once!"

"No!"

"I'll only be using one finger - just to feel how sharp they are!" Maka insisted.

"No, Maka."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because it's gross!"

"You've licked my hand before!" She reminded hotly. She had slapped her hand over his mouth to shut him up once and he'd licked it, totally grossing her out and earning a swift chop to the head with her spoon.

"That's different!"

"How is that different? I'll just be touching your teeth, not shoving my entire hand in your mouth! I'm just going to let my finger touch _one_ tooth!" Maka argued and Soul finally looked down at her, red eyes flashing with annoyance. She almost flinched away. It was much different when he _sounded_ annoyed but when he _looked_ at her like that, it made her feel more guilty. It made her feel guilty for a lot of things, actually, things that had no relevance with tooth-touching or anything in between.

"_No."_

Maka frowned and huffed away, turning her face away from him. "_Fine._"

It was silent.

"_Jerk_," she added in an even lower voice, sounding a little hurt.

"ARGH!" He exploded, grabbing her hand. Maka squeaked, crawling on her knees as he let her fingers touch his teeth. "There! You happy now?" He complained, glaring at her for being able to sway him so easily. She touched one tooth curiously, finding it duller than she thought it'd be. She expected them to be sharper but they weren't. They'd hurt if he bit down on her but like this, they were practically harmless. Her fingers dared to venture a little deeper and she found, curiously, that his molars weren't so sharp. They were normal so it was only his front teeth that were abnormally pointed.

"Ah," her lips parted, dropping her fingers from his mouth before he really got pissed at her. "They're cute."

It was silent again.

Soul stared at her incredulously. "_What__?_"

Maka flushed. Okay, so they weren't cute, they were actually terrifying, if you thought about it, but what was she _supposed_ to say after being able to investigate his teeth? _If they start falling out can I have them so I can make a necklace out of them? _Yeah, that would blow over _very well_, Maka thought sarcastically, trying to push away the red that burned her cheeks. "J...just they well they're not...they aren't bad not, they're interesting and not as sharp as I thought they were. So you shouldn't be ashamed of them, they're apart of you and..." she ended uncertainly, the silence having gotten to her.

He stared at her - _really_ stared at her, stared at her like the time she wanted to confess she was no longer legally blind - but like that moment, it vanished too soon, and then he was laughing. Her eyes darted to his teeth as he threw his head back in laughter and she felt her cheeks darken a deeper red. She puffed them out and smacked him and told him to shut up because it wasn't funny so he shouldn't be laughing because she had been _serious _and -

"No ones ever said that about my teeth before," he chuckled, his hand reaching up to pinch her cheek. She grunted and glared at him, trying to get him to loosen his death grip on her poor cheek. "Y'know, _you _can be really cute sometimes," he offhandedly said, grinning when she made a strangled sound in the back of her throat.

Then she was hitting him again but only so he couldn't see how red her face had gotten.

Minutes later found him nursing a sore cheek while she casually placed her chin in her hand and rested her elbows on her knees, watching the game flatly.

"...You didn't have to hit me that hard..."

"You wouldn't stop laughing."

"Yeah but I think I'm _bleeding!_"

"Don't be stupid! You're _not _bleeding!"

"How would you know?" Soul grumbled, rubbing his sore head.

Maka pressed her lips together and stole a glance at him, squinting her eyes a little. He was rubbing his head but there was no visible bleeding anywhere. He had been exaggerating again, probably to try and get her to feel bad for him so she wouldn't be angry anymore. But he had a tiny smile on his face, even as he complained that she was being overly harsh with him, and the smile didn't disappear even as they went back to watching the game and she let her thoughts consume her with their worries again.

"Who's winning?"

"The Bulls," he drawled. "You actually hearing this?"

"...No, I was just curious," Maka mumbled. "Wh-who are you going for?"

"The Bulls," Soul smirked. He grabbed a can of coke from the pack he'd set out on the table. Maka disapproved of beer so this was the next best alternative. "Star's probably shitting it somewhere right now."

"So you placed bets again?" Maka looked at the screen. The Bulls were ahead by three points. "It's not looking too good for him right now..."

"No kidding! Those twenty bucks are _mine!_" He smirked, revealing sharp teeth again. Maka let her gaze linger on his grin, his eyes fixed on the TV screen as the Bulls scored again, then she let her eyes drop back down to her lap. She rubbed her eyes and felt her mood dampen even more with her guilty thoughts. She was stringing him along for this and it wasn't fair but, she thought, just once _maybe_ she could have what she wanted...?

"Argh! Fuck!" Soul swore when the rival team scored. "They better step their game up, I need those twenty," he growled and watched the game with more intensity.

Maka looked back at her lap nervously.

She wanted to ask him. No one but herself could understand just how badly she wanted to ask. She had gone over the question in her mind repeatedly, searching for any sort of flaw in it like her doctor, Stein, searched for cures for his ill patients. She would revise the question - revise it again and again and really, in the end, all of those revisions were for nothing. Because in the end, the _real_ question tumbled out of her mouth unbidden; just a whisper, really, a very quiet murmur that he would not have heard had he been paying more attention to the game than herself. But he never did that, Maka would ruefully remind herself later, because he was _always_ paying attention to her just in case something happened, to _protect_ her like he promised he would.

"What would you do if I could see again?"

"...Dunno'."

The answer didn't justify the question, however, not for Maka Albarn. She would not take a halfhearted _dunno' _as an answer - not when she spent so much time fretting over the question, not when she felt so absolutely cheated of the resolution. She wanted an answer, a solid one, and even if her stomach knotted at the thought of what could come out of his mouth, she needed that answer. That answer would establish everything, she decided in that instant, and she hoped it wouldn't disappoint her when she got it.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Maka frowned, her temper starting to rise. Soul tried to ignore her, staring at the television without really seeing anything. "_What_ would you do if I could see again? Answer it right!"

"I already did!"

"Answer it _right,_" Maka shouted.

"That is a right answer!"

"No, it's not! That's a half-assed answer! Give me a good one_!"_

"What do you _want_ me to say?" Soul shouted right back, locking eyes with her. It felt like she could see him - _actually _see him. It didn't feel like she was looking straight through him, not this time. He shrugged the feeling off. "I don't know! Maybe I'll go back to work or something!"

"You already work!"

"Then I'll just leave you alone!" He fired back, wanting this stupid argument to end. "I'll leave you alone, alright? If you can see, that means you don't need my help anymore. You can go on living - do what you did before you went blind! We can go back to how it was before."

"How it was before?"

"Before the accident," he clarified, crushing the can in his hand.

"Right," she murmured and trained her eyes on the screen when he glanced at her. "Like before."

Her mother always told her not to ask questions she did not want to know the answer to. She didn't know how true this was until that night.

As she softly bid Soul goodnight, she tried not to think about the fear of being all alone again; like how it was before, how utterly miserable and _alone _she had been. She hadn't spoken after that argument. She didn't know how she would be able to phrase her obvious desperation to keep him as he had been for the past few months, practically a year. She didn't know how to tell him of her new found selfishness and, as she rolled over on her bed and gripped the sheets in her fist, she decided not to. Because Soul had a life before he came into hers; he had friends, he had hobbies, he dated probably, he did _other things_. He did other things than learn how to check the tenderness of beef, than remember to dust behind the frames, than learn how to sew and the wonders of a thimble, than constantly watch her in case she bumped into something and hurt herself.

He had other things, Maka decided with sorrowful resignation, that he needed to return to that she was preventing him from because he felt some sort of obligation to watch over her since no one else would. Who would, honestly? It was like looking after a child, Maka decided, constantly doing this and that; taking care of it, making sure it didn't hurt itself or get lost. And someone like Soul didn't deserve that type of burden, even her own _mother_ hadn't wanted that burden. He was young and he was handsome and he had a great sense of humor and, although he could be unnecessarily crude and sarcastic at times, he had a very kind heart and his kindness would be rewarded twice-fold, she would make sure of it.

Starting from tonight: releasing him from the burden that was herself.

So that night she called her doctor and told him she could see again and it was a miracle, even though she'd had her sight back for the past week and a half and she'd only been pretending to stumble and touch for things. She had asked, if it was not too much trouble, if he would be able to see her immediately because it was only nine at night and, really, what else did she have to do? She needed to clear her head of things and this would be a good distraction.

Because after tonight, everything would go back to how it was before.

* * *

She sent him a message at three in the morning.

That was when she got back from the hospital via public transportation. It turned out her vision was still bad although it was nothing corrective lenses couldn't fix. They would not officially know until the results came back in a few days but Dr. Stein had given her an optimistic prognosis. He had assured her that her glasses would be ready for her within the next four weeks or so and she would be able to return to her normal life and, as if taking perverse joy in the way her face fell, told her she wouldn't need anyone looking after her anymore. He reminded her that if anything felt off, if she had excruciating migraines or felt faint, to check into the hospital immediately or contact him for further medical advice. And that was that.

It was a lot more anti-climatic than she imagined it'd be.

Maka sat on the edge of her bed with her phone in her hand, not knowing what to expect after that. A reply from Soul, maybe? She was sure he was awake, probably watching television, or fiddling with his guitar like he often did when he was with her late at night. He suffered from insomnia; he didn't tell her why. He didn't explain why he refused sleeping pills, why he'd rather stay up until the early hours of the morning before sleeping. He just told her it was no big deal, he'd dealt with it most of his life, and the only bad thing that came out of it was him looking a little dead from the rings under his eyes.

She liked to think it was because he felt lonely, too, and that sort of loneliness kept him up at night.

Because when he spent the night over in her apartment, he knocked out cold.

But maybe these were just her own desperate muses.

It wouldn't be the first time.

She fiddled with her phone then tossed it on her pillow. She scooted her pillow over it and sat there for a while longer before she stood up and went to the kitchen. Soul left things in a certain order, like the frying pan already out on the burner and the spatula hung above the stove, ready to use. She imagined it saved time in the morning: what with him waking her and cooking breakfast and ensuring they both made it to their respective workplaces on time. He made a good dad, she thought quietly to herself as she touched the spatula. He would make a really good dad when he settled down.

If she thought about it, he already had more than enough experience.

Her hand dropped back to her side as if burned. But then again, her mama liked children but she hadn't been there to raise her after she turned ten. Her papa had taken over from there, kind of. He wasn't all that good of a parent but at least he didn't pretend to be a good one. He tried his very best and, although he spoiled her with money and gifts whenever he failed her, which was very often, he did _try_. He had his vices, like drinking and sex, but he _tried_ more than her mama had. She was happy he at least put some effort into raising her, even if she catered to him more than he did to her.

She sat back on the couch, hands folded on her lap.

She never noticed how big her couch was. It was practically big enough to fit two people on it.

She stretched out on the couch, using the arm rest as a pillow and wondering what she would do tomorrow. Day one of independence, she thought wearily, and all she wanted to do was curl up under her bedsheets and hope the day passed by quickly. She wondered how long it would take this sense of loss to be done and over with and her determination to kick in...like always.

_Nothing new, _she thought. _Just keep going. _

Maka darted her eyes to the door when a knock sounded. She sat up slowly, unsure of who it could be at such an hour. She looked through the pep-hole, finding it conveniently covered by a hand. Only one person did that and she already felt nauseous at the thought. She contemplated not opening it for a second before she took a breath. He would only knock harder if she did that. She cracked her door open a little but Soul pushed it open completely, giving her a dark look that made the guilt rise up her throat again.

"How long have you been able to see?"

Maka shuffled, dropping her eyes. "Not long - !"

"Don't give me this bull that you magically recovered your eyesight after I left!" He sneered. "How long have you been able to _see?_"

"Not long," Maka mumbled, nervously tugging on her hair. "Only a week."

"_A week?_ Are you kidding me? You kept this hidden from everyone _for a week?_"

Maka bowed her head, starting to feel worse about herself. He sounded angry and, most of all, confused. He probably hadn't liked that she'd lied to him for a week: he could have been out living his normal life a week ago, she realized suddenly and felt her guilt double. She kept him from that because she was needy. Maybe that was something she and her papa had in common, she ruefully thought, who would have thought? Of all the things she could have inherited from her papa, it was the worst trait.

"Why?" He asked, running his hand through his hair. "You got your eyesight back...why wouldn't you tell anyone? Maka, you always sounded so excited when the doctor said your sight would be back any day now! So why? I don't get it," he frowned, trying to make sense of her actions. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Maka bit her lip, feeling like a child scolded by their mother. She let him close the door behind him and felt him take her hand, like before. She didn't grab it immediately but when she did, he led her to the couch like usual. It left a sour taste in the back of her mouth, the action that would be gone by next week. She didn't dare raise her eyes, fearing they'd be as watery as she knew they were. Instead she stared resolutely at her lap and promised herself she would _not_ cry because it was stupid and there was no need to cry. She just had unresolved abandonment issues, she told herself logically, it was nothing to get herself all twisted up over. She could get over them like she got over everything else.

Like always.

More tears welled in her eyes, old exhaustion setting into her bones.

_Like always. _

"Hey," Soul called, tone softer than before. He laid a hand on her shoulder and she sniffled, swallowing down a hiccup. "Why are you crying? I'm not really mad at you. Uh, I didn't mean to yell at you..."

"It's okay. I lied to you and everyone else. I-I was just being selfish. It's okay to be angry at me. I knew it was wrong but I still did it," she sucked in air. God, it sounded worse when she actually said it out loud. If it was bad in her head, it was horrible spoken. She really was like her mother said her papa was: pathetic, rather pitiful.

"H-hey, c'mon," Soul creased a brow, bringing her under his arm. "It's not that bad, I mean, it's not like you killed someone. Maka?" His worry doubled when she only shook her head, sucking in more of her sobs. "Come on," he softly said, wiping away some stray tears from her cheeks. "Don't cry. Crying girls aren't cool," he pinched her cheek softly, wiping away anymore tears that fell down them with his fingers. "And you're a cool girl, right?"

Maka nodded in his chest, sucking in her tears.

"So stop crying and tell me why you lied. No one has to know but me," he added when she hunched even more. "It can be our uncool secret_—_just this one time," he said and she smiled very faintly as the words tumbled out of her mouth just like that question had tumbled out of her mouth. But unlike the question, her words were very loud in the expanse of her apartment and when she finished, jaw clenching so tightly it hurt, it sounded so absolutely _childish_ and ridiculous that she regretted ever opening her mouth. She should have just stayed quiet; it was not like he could force it out of her. It could have remained _her _uncool secret, not theirs, but now it was out and he probably thought she was a stupid little girl who couldn't take care of herself.

"I can stay if you want..."

"I don't _need_," Maka spat, contemptuously, "your _pity_. You don't _have_ to stay_—_I can see now. I can go back to how I was before."

"I'm not pitying you," he replied patiently. "And I don't want you to go back to how you were before. I like how you are now better than how you were a year ago. You're nicer, even if you beat the shit out of me every day," he smiled faintly. The corner of her lip twitched. "And besides, this is assuming that I _wanted_ to go back to my life. You never bothered to ask if maybe _I _wanted to stay."

"You?" Maka said, puzzled. "I asked you earlier..."

Soul rolled his eyes. "You call that asking?"

She pressed her lips together. "But don't you want to go back to your life? You always made it sound so exciting, I thought you'd want to go back...there's not much to do around here unless you count chores. And you hate chores. I'm not fun, either," she murmured, feeling rather sorry for herself. She really wasn't: puzzles and reading and sleeping and teasing him didn't really account for much fun, except maybe the teasing part. And the unmentioned parts where Soul would force her out of her apartment for what he called "human time".

"My social life's not that great," he shrugged. "I like being here better."

"But..."

"Look," Soul heaved a sigh, ruffling his hair. "You have issues with people leaving you and I have issues with people _never needing me_," he looked up at her and she looked saddened by it; maybe by how much they needed each other after all. "So, I...liked it," he admitted guiltily, hanging his head. "I like it, alright? I _like_ that you needed me. I like the feeling of being _needed_ for once! So I was always kinda' hoping your eyesight never returned," he didn't dare meet her eyes as he said this, feeling as if he were digging himself into a deeper hole with every word. They were selfish words but he felt he owed it to her after she spilled her secrets to him. "So that you would continue needing me and I wouldn't feel so..."_ useless, _he grimaced. "It sucks, when you grow up in a rich house and you find out that you're just a back up in case something happened to the _real_ heir. You're just needed in the unlikely case he died and once Wes turned eighteen and took over, I wasn't needed anymore," he stared at his lap bitterly. "_No one_ needed me anymore..."

"_I_ need you," Maka whispered. He looked up tiredly. "That's why I lied. I liked needing someone to rely on. No ones ever done that before, I wasn't lying when I said that. Mama left when I was ten because she wanted to travel and papa tried to raise me but he was always at work or with other women..." Tentative fingers reached for his hand and she let them tangle together. "So I raised myself. I was always alone and then the accident took away my sight and...you started to take care of me and it felt _nice, _not being by myself for once. Like I didn't have to hold my entire weight all the time. So maybe we can stay like this," Maka looked up at him, managing a wobbly smile. Soul squeezed her hand and drew closer. "Nothing has to change. You can still look after me and I can still rely on you. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," he said, letting her rest on his chest. He sank back on the couch, the pose familiar. Nothing had to change and he liked that thought a lot. Maka and he - they needed each other. They needed each other so why would they leave if they already admitted it? He liked this mutual need however burdensome it might be for other people. However weak it might reveal them to be. No one needed to know about this mutual weakness they both shared: her fear of being alone, his fear of being thrown away again.

"So does that mean I still have to drive you to work?"

"Yes."

"But you can see now so..."

"My drivers license is still suspended!"

"Not for long!"

"Too bad," Maka muffled and peeked up at him, her green eyes twinkling with mirth, happier than he'd seen them in a long time. He brushed hair over them and smirked when she growled and shook her bangs away. "I _need_ you to drive me to work," she teased.

Soul nearly sneered.

"If you're gonna' keep using that against me, we can call this off!"

"Only once in awhile!" Maka teased and laughed when he sighed heavily, tugging on her hair with both hands sullenly. "It's okay because you know that I need you, too," she whispered in his ear and he felt a shiver run down his spine. "This is our uncool secret, right, Soul?"

He only nodded, dropping his hand to rest on her back.

"Our uncool secret," he repeated, glancing at the ceiling. It was black, dancing with the headlights from the cars that drove down the street. It was an active night, he wondered what was keeping everyone up. He looked back down to her and found her using his chest as a pillow again, her hand curled under her chin. Her legs were drawn up, knees to her chest and arms tucked in, her breaths evening out as she drifted off.

This was their uncool secret, Soul thought again, this mutual need for one another they both had that no one else could understand.

Maybe it wasn't healthy and maybe it was something that should be looked at by a professional. He didn't particularly care, truth be told: he just cared about being with Maka a little longer. The warmth and relief that filled him at the thought of being able to stay with her, not thrown away when the need for him was met, was something he couldn't let go of that easily. The feeling was something he craved, something Maka craved with equal intensity, so he figured it was fine. It _would_ be fine, he thought as his eyes slid closed, because it would still be Maka and Soul.

Soul and Maka.


	6. Chapter 6

**Blind Faith  
By. **_Poisoned Scarlett_

* * *

_Epilogue  
Two Years Later_

* * *

"I AM HERE FOR MY MONETARY RECOMPENSE!"

Soul cracked an eye open, peering over the couch flatly as his long-time friend Black Star strutted through the front door as if he owned the place. He saw Maka shut the door with a wrinkle of her nose, annoyed by his flashy entrance, and Soul slumped back down on the couch in hopes of evading the turquoise-haired loudmouth.

But no such luck.

"Beat it, Star, I'm broke," Soul sneered and shut an eye when his friend bellowed the injustice of his statement. "Don't scream in my ear, idiot, I'm sitting _right beside you!_"

Black Star smirked at him, pointing at finger between his eyes. "THAT MAY BE SO, MY FRIEND," he roared, "BUT IT SEEMS YOU DO NOT HEAR ME AS YOU THINK YOU DO!"

"Oh, I hear you alright," he bit back. The sarcasm was missed by his friend. "I'll give you the money tomorrow, it's not like you need it right away!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"

"Yeah, I do."

"LIES!"

"Dude, you just texted me saying that you have a day off today and you're gonna' hang out here to play video games," Soul dryly reminded and Black Star blinked owlishly, also remembering. "It ain't looking too good for you, either, Maka doesn't like loud idiots like you in the house. Maybe if you shut up, we can actually play some xbox."

"XBOX YOU SAY? I KNOW!" He leaped up, stomping a foot on the coffee table. Soul looked at him with a smirk starting to stretch his lips, knowing his friend too well already. "FIRST ONE TO GET TO THREE WINS GETS THE TWENTY PLUS AN EXTRA TEN!" He whipped out a ten dollar bill, waving it in his face mockingly.

"You're on! Might as well give me the cash, I already won!"

"PUNY PEASANT, HOW DARE YOU THINK YOU ARE ABOVE _THE GREAT BLACK STAR_ - !"

"_Black Star!"_ Maka finally snapped, appearing in the archway of the kitchen with her thick-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, red in the face with rage. She wielded a spatula in her hand, pointing at him menacingly. "SHUT UP! If you keep yelling, I'll make sure you can never use your voice again!"

"HA! AS IF SOME MIDGET LIKE YOU_—_UGH!"

Soul winced, watching his friend clutch his aching nose and writhe on the floor while Maka calmly picked up her spatula from beside him. She shot a sharp look at Soul and he sighed, understanding her nonverbal warning.

"We'll be _quiet_..." he mumbled.

"One peep out of him," Maka pointed her spatula back at Black Star who, by now, had recovered enough to pout and glare sullenly at her, "and you're _both_ out of here, got it? I already got a complaint from the manager last week because Black Star was being too loud! One more complaint and we're getting _another_ notice!"

"_I!_" Black Star sighed noisily and hung his head at her warning look. "Fine, whatever, jeez. You're such a hardass, Maka, anything _else_ you wanna' nag at us for?"

Maka pursed her lips. "Bring your own soda whenever you two decide to hang out! Contrary to what you may think, I am _not_ here to continuously replenish your supply every time you two morons drink yourselves into a diabetic stupor!"

Black Star grinned widely at that but before he could open his mouth and potentially knock himself unconscious, Soul slapped a hand over his mouth and shouted, "Got it!" and let her wander back to the kitchen to grab some treats for herself before she went to her own room. Once she was safely inside her room did Soul let go of Black Star, who exaggeratedly spat and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Dude," Black Star began as Soul started up the game system, a pack of soda and a bag of chips already spread out before them. "I don't get why you moved in with her. She nags more than _my_ mom!"

"Nygus?" Soul snorted. Now that woman really _could_ nag you to death. "Hell no. She just doesn't like you."

"Pfft, no one can _not_ like me! I am The Great Black Star!"

"Whatever," Soul absently replied. However, Black Star kept his voice at a reasonable level and was wary of Maka despite her being locked up in her room the entire time. It turned out that Soul had some luck on his side for he ended up winning the three matches; which was good, for he needed those thirty bucks for grocery shopping. As uncool as it sounded, he was reluctant to admit to Maka that he had totally blown off the forty dollars specifically _for _groceries on a brand-new pair of headphones he hadn't been able to resist buying. So when Black Star coughed up those thirty, Soul immediately shoved them in a hidden pocket in his wallet and made a mental note to go grocery shopping later_—_perhaps with Maka, as she hadn't stepped out of the house for anything except work for awhile. She needed some human time so she wasn't so restless, he decided.

Soul had been pondering ways of convincing her to go to the park afterwards when Black Star spoke up:

"Hey, about you and Maka..."

"What about us?" He asked, sharply.

"Liz has been snooping around recently," Black Star began, taking a drink of his soda. "Trying to figure out if a rumor she heard around the office is true."

"Rumor?" Soul asked, already feeling a headache coming along. Rumors were never good and if Black Star was bringing it up, it definitely could _not_ be good. Soul glanced down the hall, to Maka's bedroom door. It was closed and it was silent but he knew she was reading her book and could, at any moment, stop and listen in. Black Star seemed to be aware of this, too, for he dropped his voice even more:

"Yeah, rumor. I don't believe it cuz you would've told me but," he shrugged and looked at him dead in the eye. "You're not planning on _proposing_ to her, right?"

"P-_proposing?_ To Maka?"

"Yeah! I mean, you've been with her for like...three years or something, right?"

The question had thrown him off but not because he hadn't thought about it once or twice. It threw him off that people were _actually_ speculating the possibility of marriage between them when they hadn't even announced they were dating! That was the thing: they _weren't_ dating. They had attention-seeking issues, abandonment issues, _a lot_ of issues that were being steadily undone between them, but they hadn't dared to cross that line. There had been moments, oh, there had been times when he wanted to kiss her, cup her cheeks and give them a reason to light up that pretty red. But he hadn't, he'd always drawn back before he could, because this relationship they held was fragile despite seeming impregnable. It could be easily destroyed with one false move and, after being readily accepted, _needed_, by her, taking that next logical step in their relationship was intimidating. Perhaps later in their life, Soul decided, later when they both realized they really could not function without the other, when they were caught too deep in their own safety net, tangled and close with everything they needed found in one another. Perhaps then, it would be okay to kiss her and love her and keep her by his side until death took him.

Except, he thought to himself, weren't they already there? He couldn't bear the thought of being separated from Maka. She had been there every morning for the past two years. He woke up to her cheerful voice, he fell asleep to her drowsy murmur of good night. It just wasn't..._right_, to picture a future without Maka. Soul stopped thinking about these things before they made him moody again.

"No," he replied, shortly. He looked at the television screen, lips pressed together. "...We're not even dating."

"EH?" Black Star hacked, spitting out his soda. Soul barely dodged the spray of gross purple before the man was in his face, demanding with raging green eyes: "What the hell do you _mean _you're not even dating? The hell have you been _doing _this entire time?!"

"Helping her pay rent," Soul scowled and his friend gawked back, seeming truly amazed by the honesty in he saw in his eyes.

"Is she getting you getting off?"

"_No_," he glared harder.

"...She do your laundry at least?"

Soul rolled his eyes. "Every other month."

"You guys take turns?" He smirked, mockingly. "That's cute, man, what're you gonna' tell me next? You guys have matching underwear and you take evening strolls in the park?"

"Fuck off," Soul sneered and ignored his friend when he laughed boisterously, draining his soda can and crushing it in his hand.

"Well, whatever, it's your life," Black Star nonchalantly said and stood up. He dusted chip crumbs off his lap and looked back at his friend, who glowered as he turned off his Xbox. "Hey, you up for a game of basketball tomorrow? Kilik's coming this time!"

"What time?"

"Five or six, I'll text you when we're there."

"Alright," he stood up as well and led him to the front door, where they decided they'd meet up an hour beforehand and bumped knuckles in goodbye. Soul locked up the door again and yawned widely as he returned to the living room, falling back on the couch with a loud sigh of relief that he could be left alone with his own thoughts again. Before he could even begin to ponder he and Maka's strangely convoluted relationship, said girl's bedroom door popped open and she stepped out slowly.

One thing Soul had noticed about Maka was, despite her tough exterior, she really was as unsure and wary as she had been when she was blind. He had thought it was due to the fact that she could not see and getting around when the only thing you saw was black could make any person slow and cautious. But even now, when she could see perfectly, she still retained those cute traits. Soul smiled lopsidedly when she came out a little more and when she noticed his smile, her stance became confident again and she walked to him. She pushed his legs aside and sat down, letting him slid his legs over her lap instead. Her fingers rubbed his calf as she said:

"Are you going to eat out tomorrow?"

"For the game?" Soul asked rhetorically. Figured she'd eavesdrop. "Probably. I'll bring you something, too. I shouldn't be back late."

"Okay," Maka nodded. "Say hi to Kilik for me, I haven't seen him or the twins in awhile."

"You can come with me, y'know," he coaxed. "Get outta' the house for once in your life."

Maka shook her head. "I can't play basketball and you _know_ what happened last time!" This time she glared at him and he grinned at the ceiling, remembering only too well. So perhaps he had bullied her a little, forcing her to play without telling her the rules, but it had been great fun to watch her scramble around helplessly, trying to figure out the rules of the damn game before she blew her lid, grabbed the ball, and smacked it at his head_—_and Black Star's, twice hard because of his laughter. "I'll be back late from work tomorrow, anyway. Kidd asked me to work overtime in order to coordinate a luncheon with Anya."

"Anya...?"

"She's this girl who works in my division," Maka mumbled, her brows knitting together in that familiar expression of irritation.

"You don't like her," he observed and Maka slumped a little more, pouting.

"It's not that I don't like her, it's that she said some things to me when I couldn't see. She _still_ acts like I can't."

"Things?" He frowned. "What kind of things?"

"Stupid things, it isn't important."

"I still want to know," he replied and moved his leg when she stayed stubbornly silent. "Ma-kaaaaaa!"

"She just called me loud!" Maka shouted then subdued, troubled. "And a burden. Liz told me not to let it get to me but I guess I was a little bit of a burden when I couldn't see..."

"You can see now so she shouldn't be calling you that. You're not a burden," Soul firmly told her. Maka looked at him, a smile starting to lift her lips. "If she has a problem with you, she should take it up with Kidd. You're fine, and Liz told me that you've been doing great at work. Something about a _promotion_ soon," he grinned when her eyes widened excitedly.

"_Really?_ Kidd wants to promote me?"

"She said it, not me!" He held his hands up with an easy grin and she squealed, bouncing up and down excitedly. He nudged her with his knee. "Oi, that's my head you're smacking!"

"If that's true, then I'll be able to work in the same department as _Liz!_" Maka breathed, shimmery eyed. Soul's eyes softened and he settled himself comfortably on the couch with his arms crossed behind his head as she happily watched TV, no longer trying to nudge his legs off her lap. He hadn't felt this content or at peace in a long, long time_—_not since he moved out of his parents scrutinizing eye and his brothers relentless teasing. He was actually happy, even if Maka still made him cook dinner every night and sometimes managed to get him to do the dishes, too.

* * *

"Stupid," Maka mumbled with annoyance as she stalked into her office the next day. "Jeez, how could Tsugumi deal with her? I'll never understand," she grumbled as she gathered up her things. She spared a glance at the clock on her desk and picked up her pace. She was later than she thought she'd be but Anya had cost them valuable time with her defiance. Honestly, if she could get over her dislike of her, things would go_ a lot_ faster.

She hoped that Soul was right about that promotion. She hadn't gotten around to asking Liz but she had seen her give her a thumbs up earlier, so that was a good sign. She wondered if Soul was home yet and figured that yes he was. He always came at the time he said he would. She was running late so he'd probably call her to check up if she took any later. So she quickly packed her things and hefted her bag on her shoulder and stepped out of her office, locking it behind her. She was fumbling for her cellphone when she felt it vibrate when she heard Anya and Tsugumi by the elevator, waiting for it she guessed.

"I haven't asked her," Tsugumi said, hesitantly. "She doesn't _look_ any different and I don't see a ring anywhere! He would buy her a ring, right?"

"Well, _assuming_ he already proposed! Which he didn't, not yet," Anya said. "Maybe he's reconsidering it. She's really loud and, ugh, she's always lecturing me!"

"Well, Maka is an efficient person and she doesn't like when things take longer than they should!" Tsugumi defended her stiffly. Maka's lips quirked up as she hid around the bend, holding the phone to her chest. "But I don't think...I don't think they're even _dating_. She talks about Soul a lot but not _like that,_ you know? It's the same as before...nothing's changed, not from what I can tell!"

"But everyone's saying he's going to!" Anya insisted.

"_No_, Meme said so because she saw them at the park one day and he was sleeping on her lap!" Tsugumi told her, firmly.

"That's not what she told me! She told me Maka was sleeping on _his _lap and he bent down and kissed her!" Anya argued, fiercely.

Maka listened with wide eyes, heart pounding. She had fallen asleep on Soul at parks often but she was a light sleeper. She would surely feel it if Soul kissed her, right? She dearly hoped so. It would be depressing to know that he had and she hadn't been conscious to enjoy it. And it'd also piss her off because what was he doing, stealing kisses like that? She expected him to be the type to just go for it, not take the cowards way out!

"Okay, okay! So where did this whole marriage thing come from?"

"They're living together, aren't they?" Anya shrugged and the elevator dinged. Both girls stepped inside, continuing their discussion, and when the doors slid shut, Maka peeked her head out and heaved a sigh. It was true that Soul had moved in with her about four months after she regained her sight all that time ago; more because he kept falling asleep on her couch when nightfall came around and he already had extra pairs of clothes in her room for the morning when he went to work. She logically thought that him moving in would be the better alternative than having him going back and forth all the time. But nothing had ever happened between them during the time they were together...or, more like, they always jerked away when they were on the brink.

He had drawn so close to her once, Maka remembered with a light flush, that their noses had bumped and his breath had feathered her lips. She had really thought he would kiss her that day and she had been strangely okay with it. She wouldn't have minded if he had, she had later realized, in fact she would have responded with much enthusiasm. The thoughts only multiplied ever since then, her burgeoning affection and want of him. The want was what annoyed her the most: how when he ruffled her hair or squeezed her neck because he knew she was ticklish, she wanted to pull him closer to her and let him squeeze other places. It was annoying and not to mention perverted, to have such thoughts about him. But it didn't help he walked around without a shirt when it was summer and he liked to sit so close to her; always be so close to her yet not close enough for her to relish his skin against hers or his warmth melding with hers.

Her phone rang, a call this time, and Maka answered as she brooded on her own inability to make a move.

"I'm still at the office," Maka told Soul and glanced at the clock. It was definitely late. "I'll be there in half an hour! Did you...oh, okay, did you get half and half?...because last time you forgot!" Maka grumbled, smiling when he sighed loudly and reassured her that he had gotten chow mein and rice this time. "I should've been home an hour ago!" Maka grumbled as she waited for the elevator. "Anya was being difficult. If I have to work with her again, I'll shoot myself." Maka laughed when he snorted and told her not to miss. "Oh," Maka blinked when the elevator door opened to reveal Akane, one of her co-workers. "Good evening, Akane!"

"Maka," he nodded politely. "Have you seen Tsugumi around, by any chance?"

"You just missed her."

"Ah, damn," he blew out a breath. Maka stepped inside next to him, returning to her conversation with Soul. Akane chanced a glance at her, his eyes lingering on her affectionate smile as Soul recounted the basketball game to her. He glanced at what floor they were on: only the 20th. They still needed some ways to go. He tapped his feet and, after a minute or so, Maka said her goodbye's to Soul and hung up with a cheery smile.

"You look happy," he commented. "Soul do something stupid again?"

Maka looked at him. "If by losing fifty bucks because of some basketball game, then yes, he _did_ do something stupid again!" Maka shook her head at the thought. "I can't believe he let Black Star sucker him into betting fifty dollars. He should've known better!"

Akane nodded. "Things still going steady between you two?"

"Yeah..." She paused, looking at the man. "By steady you mean good, right?"

"Yeah. Y'know, no major arguments or anything. Still want to be with him and stuff."

"Ye - no, wait, we're not dating!" Maka corrected him hastily. Akane stared at her, brows raised in disbelief. She flushed deeply. "We - we just share an apartment because it's cheaper! Ah..."

"Well, Kid pays well and last I heard, Soul works at a pretty good record company. I heard they pay well, too..."

"Y-yeah but...um... we just - we're really not dating! So everyone should just drop it!" Maka stubbornly said and prayed that they'd reach the parking level already. She could feel Akane's stare burn into the side of her face.

"Well, that's a shame," Akane began, "I think you guys should go out. You've got more chemistry than any other couple I've seen around these parts," he smiled lopsidedly at her wide-eyed look, "You guys work well together. The times he comes by to pick you up, it's like you two are always on the same wavelength. It's weird but pretty amazing to watch. Gives me hope, y'know? That things like that could actually work out between two people," he added a little wistfully.

That was funny, Maka thought, because Hiro had said the exact same thing all those years ago and he had been a total stranger at the time.

The elevator dinged and Maka followed Akane out after a second, rather dazed by his words. The man bade her goodbye and headed back to his car, messing around with something on his phone as he did. Maka stood under a wash of white light for a second longer, pondering his words. Same wavelength, huh? She stifled a sigh and made her way to her car. Once inside, she let her head fall on the wheel and she groaned. Now she couldn't get that idea out of her head. It's not like many things would change, she convinced herself, everything would stay the same except maybe now she would have a reason to slant their mouths together or slip her hand under his shirt or sit on his lap or...

Maka groaned louder.

She would have continued her pity party had her phone not vibrated with a text from Soul, who wrote that he couldn't find his jacket anywhere.

"It's in the closet," Maka muttered, irked. "Where I _always_ put it, you idiot!" She texted the reply and decided that was enough stalling. She needed to get home before the thoughts in her head could bug her anymore. "Why would he need his jacket, anyway..."

She received her answer when she found him standing outside on the sidewalk with his arms crossed over his chest, his leather jacket unzipped and fitting him too well. He stood as if waiting for someone and when he spotted her, he waved her down.

"What are you doing out here?" Maka asked through the open window, puzzled as he rounded the front of her car and slipped into the passenger seat.

"There's no more milk," he told her grimly as he shut the door.

"Soul, are you serious? It's _eleven pm."_

"This is serious! I like milk," he whined. "M'always get - "

" - up at night to drink some, yes, I know," Maka sighed and decided she might as well keep driving. She headed to their usual supermarket, since it was probably the only thing still open at this time at night. "Anything else we need?"

"Uh, some chips and soda and doughnuts. Oh, and some cranberry juice!"

"I meant _real food._"

"What're you talking about? That _is _real food," he grinned. "Soda is my life blood."

"I thought it was milk."

"That, too."

Maka giggled and his smile widened. When they arrived to the supermarket, she once more asked him if they were missing anything else at home and although that earned her a roll of the eyes from him, he listed off the things they really did need and, when they entered, Maka picked up a grocery basket and Soul made the bee-line for the dairy section for that gallon of milk. She wandered the aisles for a bit, filling up the basket with a few things they needed and picking off more as she decided she'd cook some spaghetti sometime next week. She paused when she saw a woman doing something similar ahead of her, only with a cart, and she let her eyes linger on the woman who hummed a song under her breath as she reached for some bottles of seasoning.

What caught her eye the most was the glint on her ring finger - the ring, basically. It was rather extravagant for an engagement ring. Maka decided it was a pretty ring however far too flashy. There were a lot of diamonds, she noticed, some emeralds there, too. She found herself thinking that she'd prefer something less flashy, perhaps classy. Something with rubies, she immediately thought, not the traditional gold either. Perhaps silver or something but now that she thought about it, she wouldn't mind gold either. Gold was always the safe way to go, she mused as she turned back to the cans of tomato sauce. Maybe with a few diamonds encrusted in it and their names engraved on the inside of the band -

She immediately stopped, her hand freezing midway taking out a can.

This was going to far.

She was already thinking about marriage and she was still single.

Marriage was completely overrated anyway, she decided with a frown. Really the only benefit was the pretty matching rings and perhaps the fact that the wedding bands repelled girls from Soul and men from her. But aside from that, things would not change. People said they did, saying marriage was a big step, but Maka honestly thought living with someone was a bigger step. She shared everything with Soul now, her thoughts and her things. He was a person who meant a great deal to her and not to see him every day, well, she didn't like thinking about that. She liked to think he had always been there for her.

"Got it," Soul came up beside her and dumped a gallon of milk in the basket.

Maka tightened her grip on the basket, glaring at him. "Can't you just carry it? It's taking up space!"

"Tch, no, I'm sore from the game," he flexed an arm and she shook her head at his petty concerns. "I'll just go get a cart." And he walked away, leaving her to frown at his backside before she turned back to the cans. She had just picked off two more cans of tomato sauce since she knew how much Soul loved spaghetti when she caught a flash of silver from the corner of her eye. Soul came rushing down the aisle, stepping on the back of the cart and pushing forward like a moron.

"Soul! If you crash into something, I am not paying for the damages! Get off that thing! What are you, five?" Maka hissed, grabbing the cart and halting his fun.

"C'mon, Maka! I'm not gonna' crash, I've done this a hundred times when I was a kid!"

"Exactly: when you were a kid. You're twenty four, Soul!"

"So?"

"This is childish."

"No, it's called having fun. You should try it sometime, it's good for the heart."

Maka was about to growl something back when she heard light giggles. She turned back and found that same woman smiling at them, having seen the exchange. Soul noticed her but just as easily dismissed her, going back to trying to push forward so he could speed down the aisle at light speed again. Maka smacked him when he tried, dumping the contents of the grocery basket into the cart, and sent him a dark look when he tipped the cart back a little from his weight.

"What? I'm not moving it!"

"I swear, Soul, if you break something, you'll be sorry!"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna' _break_ something, I'm not that stupid!"

"Hmm,"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He scowled. She merely smiled back, continuing to search for more things they needed while he trailed behind her, pushing the cart forward with one foot still hooked on the back. "Maka! Makaaaaaaa! Maka, Maka, Maka, Maka, Maka - yikes!" He dodged a swat, darting his wide eyes to her slit ones.

"I heard you the first time!"

"Then say something!"

Maka slit her eyes at him. "I'm getting really -!"

"Tired of my shit, yeah, but I could be worse," Soul smirked.

Maka arched a brow.

"I could be Black Star!"

Maka immediately shuddered and he snorted at the thought, pushing the cart forward so she could follow him now. He noticed, as they made a turn, the woman continuing to smile at them. He then noticed the wedding band on her finger, glinting under the bright lights of the supermarket. A real flashy ring, he thought, probably cost the guy a fortune judging by how many diamonds he saw and the big emerald stone perched on the middle. His eyes shifted back to Maka, who had stopped to pick up a box of instant pasta curiously. She wasn't that type of girl, he decided instantly, to want something so flashy and tacky. She'd want something simpler, something maybe with emeralds? Maybe diamonds, you couldn't go wrong with diamonds. Maybe a combination of emeralds and _rubies_, he thought suddenly, kind of like... to show their _union_.

Red and green.

Yeah. That was a good idea.

Band would be gold - or platinum, Soul distinctly remembered his mothers wedding band to be made of platinum. It was much more expensive but platinum would be great. He roughly summed up an estimate in his head, figuring he could take some money out of his savings, before his thoughts came to a screeching halt.

Wedding rings.

Why was he thinking so deeply into wedding rings? His eyes darted back to Maka, who had decided to take four of those boxes and was continuing her walk. They weren't even going out; they hadn't even kissed yet! And _already_ he wanted to put a ring on her finger? Soul decided it was all Black Star's fault, why he was even thinking about it so much. If he hadn't opened his mouth, right now he would be thinking up ways to bug Maka and not about what size ring she wore and if he should be cheesy and engrave something inside the band; something like _its the soul that matters _or _our uncool secret _or make something, for once in his life, meaningful and combine the two or - !

"Soul?"

"Uh, what?"

She smiled. "Chocolate or vanilla?"

"...Both."

She looked at the ice cream in her hand. She reached over and grabbed a cookies 'n cream one. "This one? It's not really chocolate but..."

"No, it's perfect," he said, staring at it. Cookies 'n cream, he thought. "Combination's good," _so combination it was_, he decided in that moment.

Maka cocked her head at his strange phrasing but dismissed it, tossing the container of ice cream into the cart.

She would remember this day later in life, during one of her spring cleaning morning sessions, when the sun was at its brightest and it happened to catch the numerous facets of the ring that adorned her finger, and realize just what he meant by that.

* * *

**A/N: **I was going to end it in the last chapter but I already had this written out. So I decided to make it an epilogue so you could all read it :)

_Scarlett._


End file.
